THIS is the mess left by rough sleepers at a Worcester camp after it was cleared and three foreign nationals detained pending their removal from the UK.

The photos supplied by PC Mark Broughton of West Mercia Police show the mess left at the camp under one of the railway arches near Worcester Arena in Hylton Road, Worcester.

PC Broughton, three police community support officers and two immigration officers swooped on the camp from around 8am yesterday (Thursday).

A spokesman for the Home Office said: "Three people were arrested and served papers as EEA nationals abusing treaty rights in the UK by rough sleeping.

"A Polish man and a Polish woman aged 28 and 46, and a Latvian man aged 47 are now in immigration detention pending removal from the UK."

The images show makeshift tents, clothes hung over trees and a washing line, a traffic bollard with pans propped on top, a pot plant, a Father Christmas cuddly toy and bin bags full of rubbish, chairs, a broom and coat hangers.

PC Broughton said: “We attended with immigration officers and foreign nationals were detained, and will be transferred to a detention centre prior to removal from the country. The camp is now empty and we have contacted the landowner with a view to it being cleared up.”

A spokesperson for landowners Network Rail said: “We will liaise with the British Transport Police on this matter and arrange a clean-up as soon as possible.”

EU citizens and their family members have the right to enter and live in other Member States.

These rights are set out in the Free Movement Directive, which all Member States are bound by.

Where admission is permitted, an EU citizen may remain in the UK for up to three months from the date of entry, provided they do not become a burden on the social assistance system of the UK or abuse their rights.

Those EU citizens wishing to stay beyond three months can only do so where they are exercising a Treaty right.

Exercising a Treaty right in this context means they must be working, self-employed, self-sufficient or a student.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We consider rough sleeping an abuse of free movement rights even where it takes place in the first three months of an EU national’s residence in the UK.

"All EU national rough sleepers who are removed from the UK will be subject to a 12 month re-entry ban, requiring them to demonstrate an immediate intention to exercise Treaty rights if they attempt to enter the UK within this period."

We have previously reported how a Slovakian man who had been staying at the same camp was removed from the country on January 26, 2015.

At one point there were nine people living under the railway archway including people from the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia.