Homelessness in Manchester city centre is at ‘crisis’ point and the council needs to do more to protect its people, a campaign group said today after two people believed to be rough sleepers were killed in a building fire.

Manchester Activist Network, a group of former homeless men and women in Manchester who are seeking legislative change, said it was organising a vigil and demonstration outside the town hall in response to the tragedy.

They called on the council to ‘protect your people’ and urged campaigners to gather from 4.30pm tonight to ‘demand a positive reaction from our council’ and pay their respects to the dead. In a Facebook post, the organisation called the two deaths ‘an absolute tragedy’.

They said that last December, homeless shelters opened in time for Christmas - largely inside empty council buildings - as former Manchester United captain Gary Neville opened up the doors of his Stock Exchange building to the homeless.

The council granted planning permission for the old Hulme Library and the former Beech Mount Children’s Home in Harpurhey to become overnight accommodation for rough sleepers.

Watch: Firefighters tackling the blaze in the building where two bodies were found

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But the activist network said in a post: “As winter begins to bite where are the night shelters of last year? Were they purely an attempt to look busy last year with all the interest in the Stock Exchange?

“Now two people are dead.

“The initial response will be to condemn squatting as unsafe, but what is the alternative? Manchester City Council this is a crisis.”

The ‘emergency demonstration and vigil’ is set to take place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday night.

The bodies were found by fire service search and rescue dogs on the first floor of a five-story building on Nicholas Street in Chinatown after the blaze broke out in the early hours of Friday. Police confirmed that one line of enquiry is that they had lit a fire to keep warm.

The building is a former Victorian cotton and woollen warehouse with a basement. It’s believed the building is owned by an international trade company based in Hong Kong.

Watch: The shocking truth of what it's like to be homeless in Manchester

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On one side, on Faulkner Street, there are Chinese restaurants and takeaways, with a travel agent at the rear of the building.

Firefighters worked through the night to tackle the huge fire. The alarm was raised just before 2.15am.

Portland Street, Princess Street, Faulkner Street and Nicholas Street were closed this morning.

The age and sex of the casualties is as yet said to be ‘undetermined’ and council engineers are working with a building inspector as the site has been deemed structurally unsafe.

Council says homelessness is a complex issue

Councillor Paul Andrews, Executive Member for Adult Health and Wellbeing for Manchester City Council, said: "Tackling homelessness is a major priority for the Council.

"It is a complex issue and one which we cannot hope to tackle alone which is why we are working closely with a wide range of partners including the community, faith and voluntary sectors and businesses to co-ordinate a response. We are also involving current and former homeless people themselves to make sure the issue is approached with sensitivity and understanding.

"No one needs to sleep rough. There is support available and indeed we have a dedicated rough sleeper team whose role is to engage with those sleeping rough and help them access the right accommodation and support. But we are very clear that helping homeless people is not just about putting a roof over their heads, it's also about giving them the support they need to address the issues which have contributed to them being on the street in the first place.

"We help thousands of people a year and are working with a range of partners to provide more temporary beds and solutions that will lead to permanent accommodation. We want to help but where people refuse to accept the support available, or have offers of accommodation which they haven't taken up, we can't compel them to do so.

"Nobody is pretending it is easy or simple. This is a growing national issue, with many causes rooted in broader social and economic developments, but as a major city Manchester attracts people from across the region and beyond so we have a particular challenge which we are working tirelessly with partners to address."

The MEN has pledged to support and publicise the Manchester Homelessness Charter at appropriate opportunities. If you are affected by issues surrounding homelessness in any way, or if you want to do something to help, you can go to: streetsupport.net