The head of a Macclesfield charity has paid tribute to a homeless man who died just the day before he was due to get the move-in date for his new home.

John Whyte, who was a well-known face in the town and often based himself on Mill Street, died on Sunday.

Maggie Falconer, the founder of Cheshire Streetwise, had known John for around four years and described him as a man who was always "polite" and "very respectful" to the volunteers.

She said: "To the folks at Cheshire Streetwise, he was always very humble, and always very grateful for anything that we did for him. I think he appreciated the fact that we talked to him as though he was a regular human being, which he was. He always knew that we would advocate for him."

Maggie and her team had recently been working to find John a home through the Peaks and Plains Housing Trust and he was due to find out his move-in date for a newly available bungalow yesterday (7 December).

"We've got furniture ready for him, all sorts of things to make it into a home and it feels it was honestly just too late. I think the sadness on our part is that and getting the house through and everything just came too late for him," Maggie explained.

She also expressed frustration at the number of "barriers" put in place when trying to find rough sleepers a home.

The cause of John's death has not been released and could potentially be subject to an inquest. Maggie said that he did suffer from a number of health issues, including those related to a leg injury he sustained two years ago.

One of the charity's volunteers spent a week on the streets with John last year and Maggie described how John was "really good at taking care of him".

"John knew the places to avoid, knew the people to avoid. For those staying on the streets, it's a very dangerous place," she said. "He was kind of who people went to if they were stuck. He would quite often share his space if it was somebody who he thought was vulnerable."

Following John's death, Maggie believes people in the town should change their perspective on rough sleepers and be "little less judgemental".

She said: "It's very easy to say 'people on the streets are drug addicts', or have some form of addiction, but that may not be the case at all. It certainly isn't for the people we work with."

Writing about him on social media, Maggie simply ended her tribute to John with "we will miss him".

To find out more information on the services offered by Cheshire Streetwise, visit their website.