Theresa May has been slammed by viewers for showing a 'lack of empathy' during a gruelling interview in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The Prime Minister appeared uncomfortable as she received a grilling from the BBC's Emily Maitlis on Newsnight over her actions following the devastating blaze.

The 'embarrassing interview' came at the end of a disastrous day for Mrs May.

She has been heavily criticised for failing to meet with victims when she first visited the site of the fire on Thursday.

Theresa May has been criticised for showing a 'lack of empathy' following the Grenfell Tower tragedy

So far 30 people have been confirmed dead with reports of up to 70 more missing after the blaze ripped through the west London building.

Mrs May eventually met victims on Friday but had to be bundled into a jeep to escape an angry crowd who branded her a 'coward' and called for her resignation.

Maitlis told the Prime Minister last night: 'You misread the public mood on this one. You misread the anger that people feel about this.

'They shouted coward at you this afternoon.'

Seemingly skipping over the comment, Mrs May replied: 'What I have done since this incident took place is, first of all yesterday, ensure that public services had the support that they needed in order to be able to do the job they were doing in the immediate aftermath.'

Maitlis said: 'That's three days on, Prime Minister, this is Friday evening. They needed those things in place on Wednesday.'

Mrs May has been heavily criticised for failing to meet with victims of the tragedy when she first visited the site of the fire in west London on Thursday

But Mrs May still refused to give a straight answer. She said: 'What I have done today is ensured that we are, as a government, putting that funding in place for people in the area.'

After watching Theresa May's interview on Newsnight, local residents in White City reacted with fury.

One woman, who gave her name as Miss Jeffries, 51, said: 'She just wants to make sure the fire service have what they need but not what the community have what they need. She just doesn't answer the questions.

'There was quite a lot of tension last night at the protests, an energy within the community - it's the first time they feel they can say something. It's the first time they feel like anybody's listening.

'This fire is the sort of thing you expect in Bangladesh, not in London.'

Many viewers also took to social media to vent their rage over the Prime Minister's performance during the interview.

One Twiter user Matt Ots wrote: 'Theresa May made an appearance on Newsnight tonight.

Maitlis accused the Prime Minister of misreading the public mood in the wake of the fire

Frankly, I was appalled at her lack of empathy and complete avoidance of the issues.'

Another, Tye Adams wrote: 'Theresa May on Newsnight tonight was just embarrassing. Very evasive and lacking in empathy. Why can't she just answer a question?!!'

While Dave Branwood said: 'Theresa May awful again on Newsnight. If she was in the Wizard of Oz she would be 'The Tin Woman' without a heart, never mind The Iron Lady.'

One outraged viewer wrote: 'How can someone be so inhuman and uncaring? Theresa May is a write off now more than ever.'

Criticism of the Prime Minister's 'lack of heart' comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was pictured hugging and talking with victims.

Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke said he hoped the Government can 'build trust' with the victims of the fire by getting to the bottom of what happened.

He told the BBC: 'I hope if there is an issue on trust that by the work that we undertake that we demonstrate both a determination to help the victims, but also demonstrate our determination to get to the bottom of what really happened and to respond to the truth, and that's how I hope we can build trust with the people of Grenfell Tower.'

Theresa May was booed and jeered tonight by an angry crowd after she met survivors of the Grenfell inferno after 24 hours of fury at her sluggish response to the crisis

Mrs May's most senior minister, First Secretary of State Damian Green, defended the way she had handled the tragedy.

Mr Green said suggestions the Prime Minister does not seem to have what it takes to respond to such a disaster were 'terribly unfair'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'She's distraught by what happened as we all are.'

'Absolutely she has the same degree of sympathy and horror at these events that we all have,' he added.

He said the Government expected to appoint a chairman to lead the public inquiry 'in days rather than weeks'.

'We want it to be able to have interim reports as well,' he added. 'So this is not going to be one of those exercises of using a public inquiry to delay a response. Actually, we want the response to be as fast as possible.'

Mr Green said the probe will look at whether sprinklers should be retrofitted to tower blocks and the Government will 'follow the recommendations of the public inquiry'.

Mrs May marched into the fury as she left a meeting that included victims of the disaster, community leaders and neighbouring residents

Anger outside the church boiled over as Theresa May left but the PM was exposed to the public's rage for only a matter of seconds before she was bundled into her car

The police bundled the ailing PM out of the church's side entrance following her private meeting with people inside

The Queen and Prince William have also met with survivors of the blaze.

During her visit to north Kensington on Friday the Prime Minister was barricaded inside St Clement's Church where she was holding a private meeting for around half an hour.

Tensions began to boil over among a crowd outside the building as news spread that she was inside.

When Mrs May eventually left the church she was met by a barrage of abuse from the public.

Officers swiftly escorted her into her government Land Rover which was surrounded, hit and pursued as she was driven away.

Queen Elizabeth II meets members of the community affected by the fire at Grenfell Tower

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn comforts a local resident in St Clement's Church on Thursday

An angry protester shouted: 'What is she doing here? She's going back to her nice cosy home.

'Why has she come only on Friday? Get the f*** out.'

Other people screamed 'murderer', 'shame on you' and 'coward' at the Prime Minister as she abandoned the meeting to return to the security of Downing Street.

In an effort to ease the criticism, Mrs May has announced a £5million support package of the victims of the blaze, which will include legal aid for victims in the public inquiry.