The video will start in 8 Cancel

Metal ‘homeless spikes’ have appeared outside a city centre building in a bid to stop people sleeping rough .

The spikes have been installed at Pall Mall Court, in Marsden Street, just off King Street.

They are in an area covered by a roof, which would provide protection from the elements.

City centre spokesman Pat Karney has criticised the move, saying it is ‘not the answer’ to rough sleeping.

He has vowed to meet with the owners of the building to discuss the issue.

The spikes are at the back of Pall Mall Medical, a private healthcare centre.

A spokesman for Pall Mall Medical said that the firm only rents part of the building.

(Image: Vince Cole)

A spokesman for GVA, which manages the building, declined to comment when approached by the M.E.N.

Coun Karney said: “We don’t want to see any of these devices in our city centre.

“This is not the answer to rough sleeping, it’s demeaning in that way.

“We are not stupid, we know that there is a lot of irritation and a lot of mess caused by people, but the first thing they should do is phone the town hall and see what we can do.

“There is a lot of this in places like New York, and it’s not the road we want to go down.

“It’s not the solution and it really aggravates and alienates people.”

(Image: Vince Cole)

The use of homeless spikes has caused controversy in Manchester in the past.

Selfridges agreed to remove spikes outside its store in Exchange Square following protests in 2014.

The retailer was accused of targeting the homeless, but bosses insisted they were being used to discourage its own staff from smoking outside the store.

Thousands of people signed a petition which branded the spikes ‘inhumane’.

Figures released this week show that rough sleeping is on the increase across Greater Manchester.

Across Manchester, there are 78 people classed as rough sleepers in 2016, an increase from 70 the previous year.

The figures are based on estimates carried out on one night in November.

Rough sleepers in Manchester 70 2015 78 2016

Homelessness is increasingly becoming one of the most high profile issues of concern for politicians and the public.

Andy Burnham, Labour’s candidate for the Greater Manchester mayoral election, has pledged to eradicate rough sleeping by 2020.

And In Manchester a new ‘homelessness charter’ was launched last year to bring together organisations, businesses, individuals and rough sleepers to tackle the problem.

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