Manchester attack: West Ham owner David Sullivan offers homeless hero Stephen Jones free housing

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan and his son say they will pay for a homeless man's rent for six months as a reward for the "heroism" he showed in the aftermath of the Manchester terror attack.

Rough sleeper Stephen Jones had spoken of how he pulled nails out of a girl's face after suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday night (22 May).

The former bricklayer, who was near the venue at the time of the blast, told ITV News: "It's just instinct to go and help if someone needs your help and it was children.

"It was a lot of children with blood all over them – crying and screaming.

"We were having to pull nails out of their arms and a couple out of this little girl's face."

Jones's actions caught the attention of Sullivan and his son, Dave Sullivan Jr, who tracked down the 35-year-old to offer him a place to sleep as a reward.

Sullivan Jr posted a series of tweets, the first saying: "Me and dad want to rent the homeless man in Manchester a house for 6 months to help him get on his feet."

The next read: "If anyone can help us get in touch much much appreciated. Such a selfless act needs rewarding. Please tag anyone who can help us."

After tracking down Jones with the help of social media, Sullivan Jr wrote in a final post: "WE HAVE FOUND STEVE! Shows the power for good social media has. Thank you to all those involved, you have helped change a man's life."

Sullivan, co-chairman of West Ham, said he and his son were now working with a charity in Manchester to organise the accommodation.

Offering to also pay for clothes and essentials, Sullivan said that he hopes it will "give him a chance of getting a job and a normal life".

He added: "Steve was just one of hundreds of people who forgot about their own safety and rushed to the aid of others, and we were both moved by his story."

It comes after reports of another homeless man, Chris Parker, who also helped victims of Monday's terrorist attack – Britain's deadliest since the London 7/7 bombings in 2005.

Despite being knocked back by the blast as he was begging in the arena's foyer, 33-year-old Parker described how he stayed to help those injured.

"It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away my gut instinct was to run back and try and help," he told the Press Association.

"There were people lying on the floor everywhere. I saw a little girl – she had no legs. I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said 'where is your mum and daddy?' She said 'my dad is at work, my mum is up there'."

Parker said he thought the child's mother had died from her injuries following the incident, which saw 119 people taken to hospital. He told reporters he also tended to a woman aged in her 60s, who was fatally hurt in the blast.

"She passed away in my arms. She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family. I haven't stopped crying. The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids' concert."

Sullivan Jr suggested Parker would also be rewarded for his actions, tweeting: "He hasn't been forgotten #watchthisspace."

After his actions made headlines across the world, Parker's estranged mother contacted Manchester Evening News (MEN) in the hope of being reunited with her "brave" son, having lost touch some years ago.

"Chris sporadically gets in touch, but I haven't heard from him for a while," mother Jessica Parker told MEN, saying she had no idea her son had been sleeping on Manchester's streets. "When I saw the story about what he had done and how brave he had been, I was floored. I was so proud.

"I thought 'that's my boy'. I just want to talk to him – and I want to meet up with him. I was totally shocked when I saw the stories about Chris, but I knew it was something he'd do.

"He's fallen on hard times, but he has a heart of gold. I'm so proud of how brave he was trying to help people."

A JustGiving page set up by MEN to raise money for the victims' families and those injured had raised some £1.12m by Wednesday afternoon.

British police identified the suicide bomber as Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old believed to be British-born with Libyan heritage.