A sombre protest snakes its way through the Greek capital. The Sleep Out day is aiming to wake up politicians to the plight of the homeless.

Greece is five years into a recession which has led to a 25 per cent increase in homelessness since 2009.

Placards read “No slogans just requests” as protesters asked for basic rights to be respected.

“At one time even the homeless, before they ended up on the street, they were paying taxes, paying bills. The government must show a bit more sensitivity,” said one protester.

Anargyros Dimopoulos, a homeless charity volunteer fears for the future: “Today we speak of the homeless – single men, women, people. But it’s only a matter of time until we start talking about homeless families. We haven’t seen this yet as a country, maybe because there are some defences left in society. But eventually it will happen.”

At 27 per cent, unemployment in January was at a record high, meaning the number of people without a roof over their heads is likely to rise.