A Southampton councillor has described squatters living in the former Blockbuster store as "good, decent and reasonable".
Portswood ward councillor John Savage made the comments after the Echo revealed around five people are living in the store in Portswood.
He has been working with the squatters, who said the housing situation in this country is "broken" amid a waiting list of more than 7,500 on the housing register in Southampton.
He said: “A lot of residents can be quite uncomfortable having squatters nearby for fear they may cause a fire or attract crime.
“I want the residents of Portswood to know that those taking shelter in the building at the moment are good, decent and reasonable people and I am very sympathetic towards their position.
“I wish the owners of this space would work more closely with us so that we can work out how this building would best serve the community.”
Councillor Lorna Fielker - Cabinet Member Adults, Housing and Health - said it's a "dreadful situation".
She said: "It’s a dreadful situation when homeless people have to resort to breaking into private premises to find shelter during periods of extremely cold weather.
“The council employs an outreach team that works with street homeless all year round.
“We are about to launch our new homelessness and rough sleeping strategy which will set out how we plan to deal with the current crisis.
“Most of the empty buildings in the city are not owned by the council and the Blockbusters store is one of these.
“If the current owners choose to employ bailiffs and evict squatters there is nothing that the council can do about this.
“Numbers of homeless people have increased because of choices made by the Conservative government over the last 13 years - that have left people unable to afford to rent or buy a home and reduced the supply of affordable homes."
The squatters, who did not want to give their full names, have spoken out as they fear being evicted by bailiffs.
They say they would have to sleep rough on the streets if that does happen.
The building is owned by a private landlord. The lease of the building was acquired by delivery company, Getir, after it bought out the company that last occupied the building. The firm declined to comment.
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