A WREXHAM university has been praised for taking homeless people in off the streets during the coronavirus pandemic.

When the outbreak began in March, all local authorities in Wales were asked to ensure those who required shelter were protected from COVID-19.

Wrexham Council officials said they initially identified a number of buildings to accommodate rough sleepers, but some landlords were unwilling to help.

They then approached Glyndwr University, which offered the use of the student halls of residence at its main campus on Mold Road in the town.

Council leader Mark Pritchard has now thanked the institution for providing shelter to those in need.

He said: “Julie James (Minister for Housing and Local Government) is very ambitious, and she wants to eradicate homelessness in Wales.

“She made an announcement telling us we had to take the homeless off the streets.

“What we did was we identified some accommodation in Wrexham, but some landlords wouldn’t work with us unfortunately.

“Then we had a conversation with the university, and I must say they were excellent.

“They allowed us to use that facility and it’s gone really well.”

Cllr Pritchard said the arrangement could be kept in place for as long as six months, but stressed it was a temporary measure.

The buildings being used to house the homeless are earmarked for demolition in the long term as the university plans to redevelop the Plas Coch campus.

However, he thanked the university’s leadership for giving the authority enough time to find a lasting solution.

A Wrexham Glyndwr University spokesman said: “Following a request from the Welsh Government to support Wrexham County Borough Council in any way possible to provide emergency temporary accommodation for vulnerable people within our community, we offered the old student accommodation at our Plas Coch site.

“We no longer use these buildings and are in the process of selling the land – however we have now agreed with Wrexham County Borough Council that they can use these buildings for up to six months. The land sale will still progress at a later future date.

“We’d like to thank Councillor Pritchard for his comments.”