A HOMELESS man was left shocked to find his tent had been seized and disposed off - while he had been attending a support meeting.

The man was attending a Community360 meeting about what support he could receive from the charity when the incident happened.

Karl Champ, who lives above a retail unit in Colchester High Street, had arranged for a 33-year-old man who had recently been made homeless to sleep in an out-of-the-way area close to St Peter’s Church.

But while the man was at the meeting it is alleged the Colchester Council worker took the tent - and binned it.

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The tent also had the homeless man’s sleeping bag inside, Mr Champ said.

He said: “My friend got made homeless at the start of the month and has been sleeping rough since then.

“He went to Community 360 for a meeting with the homeless team, and when he came back, the tent was gone.”

Mr Champ added the council’s conduct and lack of empathy was compounded by the fact the homeless man should have at least been given a warning.

He said: “If they wanted it moved, they would have to give seven days’ notice; someone tried to argue it was fly-tipping, but there was a sleeping bag and water bottle inside.

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“I think I was more disgusted than the homeless man in question - I was disgusted that they thought they could treat someone like that.”

But a council spokesman said the tent did not have personal belongings inside, and was removed because it was obstructing St Peter’s Church.

He said: “The city centre team found a tent on the High Street on Thursday, which was unoccupied and did not have any personal belongings in, so it was removed.

“Where tents are found unoccupied or present an obstruction in the city centre, as this is for the entrance/exit of St Peter’s Church, our normal practice is to remove them.”

The spokesman added the owner of the tent is now in touch with Colchester Borough Homes’s rough sleeper outreach team.