Worrying pictures show rough sleepers’ tents perilously pitched just inches from a busy dual carriageway.

Charity bosses say the use of the dangerous location along the edge of Canterbury’s ring-road is a sign of how people are getting more desperate as homelessness increases.

Visible from the city wall and the bridge to Canterbury East railway station, the encampment consists of a row of tents, some abandoned and some in use.

Canterbury City Council says it is working with local charities to help those at the site, but it is “unable to force people into accommodation”.

The array of tents at the intersection of the dual carriageway at Pin Hill and Station Road East has been in place for some weeks.

It is situated directly between the road, the back of Club Chemistry and the rear garden of Catching Lives’ day centre.

Tasmin Maitland, CEO of Catching Lives, told KentOnline: “It’s a sign of increasing homelessness and rough sleeping in Canterbury that we now see that number of tents in that location.

“We’ve had the occasional person pitching at the wider end of the verge before, but we haven’t had this issue with multiple tents, particularly on the narrow parts of the verge that are even less safe against the road.”

She says rough sleeping is “harmful at the best of times” for those on the streets.

“When people are then pitching their tents in areas that increase those risks, it’s a real worry,” she added.

“I think it does show how desperate people are and how few options they have that people are ending up in really unsafe locations for their tents, but their choices are limited.”

According to county council figures, 33 people are sleeping rough across the Canterbury district per night.

In contrast, in Sevenoaks and Tonbridge & Malling, there is just one rough sleeper in each borough.

It is estimated that about 80% of Kent’s rough sleepers are male, and about 74% are UK nationals.

Ms Maitland says Catching Lives sees about 35 people daily in its day centre and that these figures aren’t a complete picture, owing to the transience of rough sleepers and the fact that, for many, their situation will change day by day.

A spokesman for Canterbury City Council said that in 2023, the authority helped 104 rough sleepers into accommodation, and so far this year has done the same for 71 people.

“And while we consider that to be a significant number of success stories, we recognise there is always more to do and it remains a challenge for us every day,” the spokesman said.

"We are working closely with Catching Lives and many other partners to support those sleeping rough on the ring-road and find them somewhere safer and more appropriate to go.”

The council’s outreach team visit the site regularly to try to help the rough sleepers with their housing problems.

"For some this is immediate. For others, it takes a little longer,” the spokesman added.

"We have found emergency bed space and temporary accommodation for some of the rough sleepers, including finding one person a studio flat, which is permanent accommodation.

"Officers have also spotted safeguarding concerns and managed to get one homeless person in need of medical help into hospital.

"There are other challenges too. There is lots of movement at the site so who is sleeping there changes quite regularly.

"And as we always make clear, we are unable to force people into accommodation. People do not always want to be helped, while for others there are often entrenched challenges around mental health and addiction.”

They said when a homeless person finds accommodation they are asked to take their tent down so others don’t move into it.

The land does not belong to Canterbury City Council, Catching Lives or Kent County Council, although the latter maintains it.

Elsewhere in the city, tents have been pitched outside the former Wilko at the top of Canterbury’s high street for some time as well.