A CAMP of homeless people and activists who have set up tents just yards away from the Christmas market have been have been ordered to leave.

The group of around fifteen people - including a teenager and two pregnant women - have been served a community protection notice by Southampton City Council insisting they move on.

But now they say they will stay put if the council tries to evict them.

It comes just weeks after city homeless services announced they'd made 25 more beds available in the city - and after figures released yesterday showed that Southampton City Council spends £5million a year tackling homelessness in the city.

Organised by Suj Mandair, who runs a church group called New Way Ministries, the Above Bar protestors made their base on the corner of Above Bar and Pound Tree Road on Sunday with the aim of raising awareness of homelessness in the city.

Suj, a civil engineer who has taken unpaid leave from work in order to run the camp, said : "I've been feeding the homeless since February. You don't need a licence or permission to do that. How come the council haven't heard of us until now? We just go and provide food and shelter. The problem isn't going away and we just want to raise awareness.

"I wanted to protest about the way the homeless people are being treated. Yesterday we raised between £5-600 and it all went on food and clothing."

Malcolm "Budgie" Bird, 52, has been sleeping rough for two years, after he was evicted from his flat.

But he said he has been moved on four times this year already.

He said: "The police just keep moving us on. But it doesn't get rid of the problem - it just moves it outside the city where people can't see it."

But city housing boss Councillor Dave Shields - who in November slept outside with Society of St James to raise money for rough sleepers - said there are "enough beds for everybody", and that the camp is being used as a "vehicle for ideologies".

He said: "We are doing everything we can to support homeless people in Southampton to get back on their feet and off the streets.

But he added: "I'm not really sure what the New Way Ministries is about. They are occupying council land illegally. They haven't spoken to me. But Two Saints, Society of St James and St Patrick's House do a great job, and if these people from the Ministry want to help then we should be working together. We are doing everything we can and more. If people want to access our homeless services, they can, it's there.

"We are reminding them of the regulations that we have got. This is a protest, and they need to abide by the rules."

A spokesperson for Hampshire police said: "We are aware of the encampment in the city centre. This is currently a matter for Southampton City Council.”