Homeless camp growing 'due to activists' - council

Manchester's homeless camp is growing because "activists are buying tents", according to council leaders.

The city centre has seen a number of encampments over the last year, most notably in St Peter's Square until a court order obtained by Manchester City Council saw those staying there effectively evicted on 26 February.

But within hours, new camps were established on Lower Mosley Street, next to the Midland Hotel, and on Albert Square.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said he was listening to the calls of protestors but suggested the city was "doing more here than anywhere else to support people facing homelessness".

"A bed every night is our flagship scheme," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

"It's going up to 600 places from the start of April, and I think because of what we do more people come here looking for support.

"It doesn't mean though, to me, that we should then stop doing what we do."

Some 35 tents were counted in Albert Square on 7 March but just 12 days later that figure was around 42.

Residents have tended to be "refugees with legal right to be here'", according to deputy council leader Joanna Midgeley, who oversees the authority's homeless response.

Ms Midgeley said "the situation remains challenging" with the camp as she gave an update on action the council was taking to tackle it.

"It's not being helped by activists buying tents and making it bigger," she said.

"This is a national issue that's being played out on the streets of Manchester and across the country."

More than 200 camp residents had been placed into support accommodation by the council, the deputy leader added, and a further 25 "have been voluntarily connected to other local authorities".

The council said it could not use the existing court order to evict the residents of the new camp because it only applied to a "small, defined area" of St Peter's Square.

A spokesperson said previously: "It remains our position that such encampments anywhere in the city are not in anyone's best interests and are not a suitable, safe or sanitary place from which to access the support available to people facing homelessness."

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