A rough sleepers camp, set up near the motorway, has been found abandoned by residents in Willesborough following months of people avoiding the area.

In April, KentOnline reported that tents had been spotted in woodland next to the M20 at Cradlebridge Drive, with some saying it had been there since around February and reports of other ramshackle sites around the borough.

Residents feared for the safety of those living there and for motorists on the M20 with smoke from the campfires drifting across the carriageway.

But now the makeshift site has been found abandoned by its occupants, leaving litter strewn all over the woodland floor.

Resident Jim Thomson said: “As a regular dog walker, I had to stop going through the woods from late February.

“Braving it, I entered the woods on Tuesday last week and found that it appeared the people who lived there had left in a hurry.

“There is clothing, footwear, tins of food, cooking equipment, cutlery and a saw, presumably for cutting logs for their fire, all left behind. Their tents are gone.

“I revisited the site on Wednesday and found it in the exact same condition as on the previous day. Its definitely been abandoned.”

The site had attracted a lot of criticism locally, with some dubbing it a miniature version of the Calais Jungle and a ‘health hazard’.

Resident Ben Sharp said previously: “It’s worrying for the health and hygiene side, as one area of the woods is strewn with toilet paper, and there is a river which runs through where I think they use for washing.”

Council bosses said at the time they were aware of the group, and that outreach workers were on the streets working to help the homeless around the borough.

A council spokesman said this week: “We will be sending an officer out to the area to confirm the site’s location and what needs to be cleared.

“We will then be able to identify the land owner, who would be responsible for removing the waste and lawfully disposing of it.”