'It's tough on the street in this weather. All we want is a place to stay'

John Scheerhout speaks to people sleeping rough amid the bright lights of Christmas in Manchester

- 

IT'S not yet 7am on Thursday in a freezing cold St Peter's Square. Under the arches beside Manchester Town Hall extension is a line of 10 sleeping bags.

In the shadow of the Christmas Markets - a symbol of indulgence and merriment people are sleeping rough. Somehow the poor souls huddled beside the council's HQ have survived a cloudless night when temperatures have plummeted to -4C.

One of them, Shahir Alfaho, tells me his story. He's a refugee from war-torn Sudan, first fleeing to Libya where he worked as a labourer and had been happy to stay, before the Arab spring uprising in 2011. He paid a trafficker 300 dollars for a place on a dinghy along with about 35 others to flee the violence all around him.

After a 'crazy' night-time trip across the Mediterranean, he landed in Italy. From there, he made his way to France where he paid 400 Euros to be trafficked across the Channel in the back of a lorry. After 27 hours locked away in a trailer with two others, the driver let him out 'somewhere near London.

He claimed asylum, before being moved north. He made a life for himself, working as a security guard and settling down with a partner. They had a son, now aged six. But the relationship broke down and things started to unravel for Shahir, 43, who has been without a home for a fortnight.

"Last night was really, really cold," he says. "I couldn't sleep to be honest. I was walking around to get warmed up and then coming back. Nobody can handle it, you know."

He said every morning council officials would come and take the names and numbers of those sleeping rough under the arches and promise to call back with offers of accommodation.