Grenfell Tower victims have only received a fraction of the £20m and 174 tonnes of donations

People have donated more than 170 tonnes of clothes, bedding and food to those affected by the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower.

But the victims have so far only received a small amount of the items as most donations are sitting in cardboard boxes in warehouses hundreds of miles outside London, the BBC revealed on Tuesday (18 July).

Hundreds of boxes of clothes are being stored at the British Red Cross' warehouse in Cheshire. A spokesperson for the Red Cross said the organisation had received 174 tonnes of donations but had only managed to sort through about half.

The challenge of dealing with a crisis such as the Grenfell Tower fire is "really off the scale," Diana Goss from the charity told the BBC.

She said that 10 tonnes of donations - less than 6% of the total - would soon be made available to the former residents of the tower block.

Other items would be sold to British Red Cross shops and textile recycling companies, with the proceeds going to the victims' funds.

Around £20m is believed to have been collected for the victims and their families, but less than £800,000 has been given out so far, according to the BBC investigation.

At least 80 people lost their lives in the fire on 14 June, but the total death toll may remain unknown for a long time due to the extent of the damage. The government pledged £5,500 in emergency funds for every household left without a home.

The decision to move displaced families to empty luxury flats in Kensington sparked a backlash from some local residents who complained that it was "unfair" people were allowed to live in the apartments for free when they had worked "very hard" to be able to afford them.