POLICE dismantled a camp set up by rough sleepers after receiving a series of complaints.

Officers arrived at a grassed area by Shrub Hill Road, in front of Shrub Hill Railway Station in Worcester on Wednesday shortly after 3pm.

Police issued four homeless people with section 35 notices which means they can be arrested if they return there within 48 hours and then began to dismantle the makeshift camp.

Complaints linked to the camp included anti-social behaviour, street drinking, the use of a pavement as a toilet and a suspected incident of grievous bodily harm which remains under investigation.

The camp included three mattresses which police stacked against a wall ready for Worcester City Council to collect, blankets and sleeping bags, piles of empty beer cans and a makeshift table which had been constructed from an old wooden crate.

The police were accompanied by Adrian Warburton, a project manager from CPP, the Worcestershire Homelessness Prevention service, and senior support worker Donna Sawyer who were attempting to find the rough sleepers accommodation in a B&B and give them support and advice.

One rough sleeper said he did not want to stay in a B&B and had previously been thrown out of one city bed and breakfast while another would no longer have him.

PC Mark Broughton of West Mercia Police said around 20 complaints had been received from businesses and members of the public about the camp which has been there for around three weeks.

He said: “There have been assaults up here, shouting and swearing, urinating and defecating in public and large amounts of rubbish. It gives a very poor impression of Worcester when people are arriving in the city.

“Our inspector has given the authority for a dispersal zone to be set up. That gives us the power to move anyone on from this area and ask them not to return for a period of 48 hours. If they refuse to move they can be arrested.”

Dispersal notices were handed out to four people covering a dispersal zone which included all of Shrub Hill Railway Station, Shrub Hill Road, Cromwell Street and the industrial estate.

The operation involved six police officers and three police community support officers.

Sgt Carl Jones said: "Some people perceive this as police picking on homeless people. However, the street drinkers here have repeatedly refused offers of accommodation and been ejected from local hostels. We are trying, with other partners, to get them accommodated.

"We have emails from people saying 'I came to Worcester and the first thing I saw was street drinkers in a makeshift camp' which is why we have had to respond and use our powers."

Sgt Jones said previously some rough sleepers had made an encampment on the other side of Shrub Hill Road and had used the ramp as a toilet.