An illegal immigrant who falsely claimed to be sleeping rough at Grenfell Tower at the time of the fire was put up in a hotel, a court heard.

Abdelkarim Rekaya, 28, had arrived in the UK from Tunisia on a tourist visa in 2008 which expired a year later.

In 2010 he was due to meet the Home Office but did not show and wasn't seen again until turning up at the survivor's help centre last year.

Tunisian national Abdelkarim Rekaya, who had been staying in the UK after a tourist visa expired in 2009, falsely claimed he was living rough on the 12th floor of Grenfell Tower

A number of Grenfell victims were put up at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel in Kensington

The Tunisian claimed he was living on the 11th and 12th floor stairwells before the fire on June 14 last year which left 72 dead.

He was given temporary housing, food allowance and emergency relief worth total of £60,000, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Rekaya also falsely applied for amnesty given to illegal immigrants who were victims of the fire.

Rekaya, of Chelsea, denied fraud by false representation and obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deceptive means.

Judge Phillip Matthews set his trial date for November 26 this year.

The hearing comes a day after homeless man Derrick Peters, 58, became the 10th person to be charged with Grenfell Tower fraud.

His trial is set for a later date.

Back in May, illegal immigrants Elaine Douglas and Tommy Brooks, 51 and 52, who said they lived in a flat on the 19th floor, were jailed for more than six years.

The Jamaican nationals spent more than £120,000 of taxpayers' money after being granted pre-paid credit cards and stays at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel.

It was later discovered the pair had been staying with friends on the night of the blaze.