Council admits hiring lorries to get rid of homeless tents after initially denying it

Camden Council admitted they were behind homeless tents being destroyed

A council that denied dumping homeless people’s tents in bin lorries, has now backtracked and admitted they were in fact responsible.

Camden Council told LBC News that they did arrange a bin lorry to clear tents from outside a hospital building on Friday but admitted it was “wrong” and they were “determined to make improvements to how rough sleepers are supported in the borough”.

A viral social media video sparked public outcry after it showed bin men collecting the tents and belongings of homeless people who were camping outside a hospital, and disposing of them in lorries.

Some of the employees, who were supported by police, were seen to be smirking as ten homeless people were affected with one person arrested.

Camden Council’s admission comes hours after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak backtracked on Suella Braverman’s plans to ban tents for homeless people as part of the Criminal Justice Bill.

Streets Kitchen, an initiative that supports people sleeping on the streets, accused Camden Council of being responsible, citing video evidence of council employees present at the scene.

Camden Council initially denied the claims saying: “Camden has had no role in enforcing this eviction and do not own the land.

“Nothing is more important to us than the welfare & rights of everyone who is experiencing homelessness. Our outreach teams have been working hard to offer support to every person sleeping rough here.”

Streets Kitchen said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “EVERYONE who was involved in that day’s heinous actions were at fault! @MPSCamden, @CamdenCouncil & @uclh ALL were equally complicit There’s much more we would like to say but all is now in the hands of our excellent legal support teams. This must NEVER happen again ANYWHERE!”

Suella Braverman was sacked on Monday with Rishi Sunak dumping her plans to ban homeless tents on Tuesday (Getty )

In a statement on Friday, Streets Kitchen told The Independent: “They are punishing people for simply trying to survive in atrocious cold-rainy conditions, which will be getting worse this weekend and now they have nothing. People who are already suffering are now tragically being punished further. Who benefits from this?

“We will have to replace these tents again and many more. This wasn’t a unique action today, this has been taking place regularly across London.”

Councillor Pat Callaghan had promised to personally look into what happened. “I’m also concerned that our contracted waste operator has been engaged in this operation,” she said in a statement on Friday.

Camden Council have been approached for comment.