The Hilton Hotel and Travelodge stepped in to save the day after a hotel cancelled a reservation made by an NGO for a group of homeless people to spend Christmas there.

Raise the Roof Homeless Project paid over €1,200 to the Royal Hotel in Hull, for 14 twin rooms.

Founder Carl Simpson took to social media, generating dozens of comments from people who said they were appalled by the “heartless” decision, with many people calling for the Britannia-run hotel to be boycotted.

But the story touched the hearts of many in the UK city and 48 people eventually ended up being given somewhere to celebrate Christmas.

The Hilton Doubletree gave rooms and complimentary meals for some people, while the others were checked into the Travelodge including their 4 legged friends.

A spokesman for the Royal Hotel's owners, Britannia Hotels, explained that the cancellation followed reports of bad behaviour at another hotel where Raise The Roof had booked rooms for the homeless last Christmas - which was denied.

But the cloud had a silver lining as the group ended up getting even more kind gestures from people and businesses to make their Christmas special.