Fire ripped through a makeshift campsite, destroying homeless people's tents in a suspected arson attack.

Seven men and one women had made their home under the ramp of the Edinburgh Road car park in Ashford town centre.

But last night they returned to find their tents razed to the ground and their possessions in a charred heaped.

Clothes and food were destroyed in the fire and the remnants are scattered around the site.

This morning the air is full of an acrid smell and the site is deserted.

Fire crews were called to the scene by a member of the public and arrived at 10.15pm to put out the blaze, spending around an hour there.

A police spokesman said: "Officers were called at 10.15pm on 6 May to a report of a fire under a car park at North Street, Ashford. A number of tents were damaged. The circumstances of the fire are being investigated."

No one was injured in the fire.

Speaking earlier this year, one of the rough sleepers, Jason Butler, 30, said something had to be done about the housing crisis.

The dad-of-three said: “I have basically been homeless for 13 years.

“I moved to Ashford with family when I was 17 but I have spent that time in rented accommodation, flat shares, sheltered housing, temporary shelters and mostly on the streets.

“But nothing is permanent and I’ve found myself repeatedly being made homeless through no fault of my own."

The group, who range in age from their 20s to 40s, met each other at a homeless shelter run by Churches Together Ashford.

They have been offered temporary B&B accommodation, but have returned to the site, where they say they have felt safe and secure.

Jason said: “When you’re on the streets all you keep thinking is something is going to happen, so you don’t sleep.

“The tents, this camp, is the safest, most secure place we have been in."