A new homeless shelter in Rotorua has forced the Rotorua Lakes District Council onto the back foot

The Council inspected the new shelter on Thursday, and deemed it unsafe for homeless people to stay overnight in.

Visions of a Helping Hand spokesperson Tiny Deane says the council originally knew people were sleeping in the unsafe shelter and did nothing about it.

However, council spokeswoman Gina Rangi says that's simply not true.

She says before people can sleep in the shelter, it has to be fire safe and a structural engineering report done confirming it's safe.