London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said he is “appalled” tents belonging to homeless people were taken and destroyed.

Videos and images of refuse workers taking tents outside University College London Hospital (UCLH) went viral on social media on November 10, after grassroots group Streets Kitchen posted to X (formerly known as Twitter).

Speaking at the London Assembly, Khan said: “My team are looking into this, as soon as I saw those images I asked them to look into this because I was appalled as you are.”

He added: “Nobody chooses to be a rough sleeper or homeless.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “We are working hard to provide accommodation and support services to the people who were sleeping rough at UCLH, as well as those rough sleeping in other areas of the borough.

“We have accommodation available for the eight people who were sleeping rough at UCLH and have so far placed three people into accommodation. We want to help as many people as we can and are trying to get in contact with the remaining people to provide support and get them into safe accommodation as soon as possible.”

Metropolitan Police said that a Section 35 dispersal order was implemented on Huntley Street, NW1, due to the hospital’s concerns for patient welfare.

Police received reports those sleeping outside UCLH were involved with drug use, urination and defecation, and intimidating hospital staff and patients.

UCLH said it worked with the police, Camden Council and their Safe Streets Team, and the charity Routes off the Street to develop a solution.

Both the police and UCLH said agencies spoke to the rough sleepers on 6 November about when the site would be cleared and offered support.

All individuals on the site left except one man who remained and was arrested for breaching the section 35 order.

Both the Metropolitan Police and UCLH declined to comment further.