A group of "destitute" migrants have been arrested after a local authority, police and immigration officers paid a visit to an illegal encampment.

The group were living in "squalid conditions" at the makeshift camp inside Leyton Jubilee Park in Orient Way.

The multi-agency operation involving Waltham Forest council, the Metropolitan Police, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and homeless charity Thames Reach, was carried out on the morning of August 13.

It was part of a council-led day of action to tackle enviro-crime, anti-social behaviour and waste management.

An eviction notice was served giving the occupants a week to leave the site and "eight arrests were made by the UKBA for immigration offences", the council has said.

Neighbourhood officers returned to the site on Friday (August 21) where the encampment had been vacated and has now been fully cleared.

The council said Thames Reach are working with the inhabitants to help them find suitable accommodation.

Deputy leader cllr Clyde Loakes, said: "It was important for us to get this illegal encampment removed as swiftly as possible due to the squalid living conditions found at the site.

"Encampments like this also present a serious risk to safety and are damaging to the local environment.

"I am pleased that our multi-agency approach has resulted in the necessary action being taken."

Thames Reach's area manager for pan-London outreach, Mesorina Beqiri, added: "Thames Reach staff offered a voluntary supported reconnection to the rough sleepers they found there, back to their families and services in their homelands which were in Central and Eastern Europe.

"The people at this site were living in destitution.

"Our experience shows that rough sleeping is dangerous. If people stay on the streets in the UK they could die there.

"We hope to link them in with services which could help them get their lives back on track."

UKBA has been contacted for further details of the arrests.