The Lord Mayor of Canterbury and a leading bishop were among those who slept in tents promoting cannabis use after a gaffe by organisers of a charity sleep-out.

The 53 fundraisers bedded down in the precincts of Canterbury Cathedral in bright yellow tents marked with a cannabis leaf and the words "keep on the grass".

But despite the howler, they still managed to raise an impressive £25,000 for homelessness charities Porchlight and Catching Lives.

Organiser John Morgan said the discount tents were bought accidentally and because they were reduced from £39 to £14.

He said: "I was as surprised as anyone when we erected them to see the motif, but at that stage there was no option other than to ignore it.

"They are usually used for music festivals and I bought them without knowing what was written on them.

"Anyway, they did the trick and while some people were cold, others were quite warm as it depended on the quality of your sleeping bag.

"You could, however, hear some snoring from other tents – and some worse noises."

Among those who slept in the cannabis-branded tents were city council chief executive Colin Carmichael, Bishop of Dover Trevor Wilmott, Lord Mayor of Canterbury Heather Taylor and Paul Barrett, the chairman of Canterbury 4 Business.

They enjoyed soup and bread before bedding down for the night and waking to a bacon and egg roll for breakfast.

Rotary Club of Canterbury Sunrise, which was behind the sleep-out, described the money raised as a "fantastic amount".

Mr Morgan insists the sleep-out was never meant to properly recreate the conditions faced by homeless people living on the streets of Canterbury.

He added: "We wouldn't have got insurance for actually sleeping in the streets and we were warned it wasn't safe.

"The aim was to raise awareness about homelessness and raise money for these charities.

"One of the things I noticed on the night was just how much noise you could hear from the streets outside the Cathedral, especially Burgate.

"You could hear the traffic, sirens and people shouting really quite clearly."