Two homeless people have died after fire swept through a former office block in Manchester where they had been trying to keep warm in freezing temperatures.

The pair are thought to have lit a fire inside the empty building they had been bedding down in but it spread out of control and ripped through the property at 2am this morning. Their charred remains were found later as firefighters battled to extinguish the flames.

Police and fire chiefs began an investigation today into the tragedy in Manchester's Chinatown district council officials confirmed the two victims were homeless.