FOOTBALL millionaire Gary Neville has put councillors and the government to shame by providing 30 homeless people with somewhere to stay this winter.

The former Manchester United and England defender has told a group squatting a building he owns in Manchester that they can stay.

The group, mainly young men, are among the city’s’s long-term homeless. They took shelter in the city’s former stock exchange, a building which co-owners Mr Neville and former teammate Ryan Giggs plan to convert into a hotel.

Mr Neville spoke to the squatters by phone and told them they could stay over the winter.

His big-hearted decision stands in stark contrast to Manchester City Council’s treatment of homeless people.

The local authority has been pursuing legal action against a homeless group for six months after they established a “tent village” in the city centre to publicise their plight.

At times, more than 30 homeless people have camped out collectively, only to be issued with court orders to move on.

Each time the homeless group has set up camp elsewhere — and more legal action by the council has followed.

The homeless people in the former stock exchange say they will use their time there constructively.

One of them, Wes Hall, said: “We can actually plan for the next few months, we can actually deliver some serious programmes, we can deliver some workshops.”

He said while speaking to a developer working on the site he was handed a phone to speak directly to Mr Neville.

“He spoke to me, he said: ‘Look, I’ve not got a problem with you staying here, look after the building and respect the actual building’.”

Mr Hall said: “This isn’t a doss, this isn’t a squat, this isn’t a party, this is a hub where we are going to change lives.” He added that a local chef had offered to help organise a Christmas meal.

Wesley Dove, homeless for 12 months and living in a tent, said: “It’s a beautiful building. Now we know we can stay, we can start doing work. It is a bit of security for winter.”