Footage was shared on social media

TENTS belonging to rough sleepers were seen being tossed into a rubbish truck in Euston Road last week – but Camden Council insists the occupants had already left.

The trashing of tents in and around Tottenham Court Road echoes November 2023, when a dozen homeless people were evicted from their sleeping spots beside University College London Hospital, and their belongings destroyed.

At a public meeting thereafter, Camden Council pledged that this would never happen again – so the sight of four tents being thrown into a bin lorry last Tuesday raised concerns that the Town Hall could be going back on its word.

According to Camden Council, the tents thrown away this week were already “unoccupied and abandoned” after their former owners were housed by support services.

Elodie Berland of grassroots group Streets Kitchen told the New Journal: “Displacing people who are sleeping rough and removing allegedly empty tents creates an atmosphere of fear, intimidation, and deep distrust of services.

“These actions do not end homelessness—they push people further from the support, safety, and solidarity they deserve and need, making it even harder to access help.”

Despite the council’s ‘never again promise’, Ms Berland told how there have been several examples since of people experiencing homelessness being told to move on – either by the council or, more often, by private security firms acting on behalf of building landlords.

In April 2025, enforcement letters were distributed to homeless people in and around Camden High Street requiring them to move out of the area.

Back near Tottenham Court Road, those staying outside the WH Smith and M&S in Grafton Way were served a notice to “vacate” the week before Christmas in December 2024, while people sleeping in Mortimer Market were made to leave in July 2025, as were those outside Spearmint Rhino in September 2025, and those outside Heal’s in Tottenham Court Road in May this year.

The spot in Euston Road, close to Warren Street underground station

New prime minister Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping during his time leading the country.

Ms Berland said that Streets Kitchen welcomes Mr Burnham’s commitment, adding: “We know it can be done with the right political will, but homelessness cannot be ended through criminalisation.

“What is needed is a community response rooted in solidarity and care – not policing, forced removals, or the continued punishment of people for simply trying to survive on the streets. ”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “While we understand why these images may appear concerning, no one was displaced as a result of this operation, and occupied tents were left in place – with our outreach teams providing support to people still sleeping rough, who also helped guide this clean-up operation. The operation was the result of dedicated work by our outreach teams to engage with people sleeping rough and connect them to support services. Four tents that were confirmed to be unoccupied and abandoned were removed – two of which belonged to rough sleepers who had already successfully been housed in accommodation prior to the removal of the tents.

“We remove abandoned tents after carefully monitoring and assessing the situation and issuing a removal notice to give advance warning. We do this is to keep the streets maintained and accessible for everyone. We store any personal belongings we find safely so they can be collected by their owner.”

A spokesperson for Veolia, the council’s refuse contractor, said: “We can confirm that a Veolia team assisted Camden Council in the removal of four tents on Euston Road on July 21.

Residents can be reassured that prior to the items being removed, Camden Council’s dedicated outreach team confirmed the items were no longer being used and instructed our teams to remove them as it was safe to do so.”