More than a dozen police officers swooped on a camp behind Durngate, at Winnall Moors, Winchester, in search of drugs.

A police spokesman said Tuesday morning's raid had been instigated after an intelligence tip-off, but no substances were found and no-one was arrested. A chainsaw, believed to have been stolen, was seized, along with other property.

Four homeless people and three dogs are camped in an assortment of tents in the wooded area behind the former Red Cross building, and next to the river.

Three of themSteve R., Tas and Johnpreferred not to give full details of their names. A fourth woman, Ness Prior, is also living in the camp. All four said they had been there for around two months.

They believe the raid, at about 10am, constituted harassment and left the camp in such a state that they had to spend the rest of the day clearing it up.

John (42), from Winchester, said: "We're being victimised. They said it was a drug search, but they found nothing and damaged everything.

"We're just homeless. We're trying to eke out a life because we've got nowhere to live. We don't live like this out of choicenot at this time of year."

Steve (36), also of Winchester, who said he'd been sleeping on floors before now, said he appreciated the police acted fairly, but said they did not clear up after them.

He added that they had had no trouble getting on with people who walked by the encampment. "We get on with everyone."

Despite this, he said the police had visited the site at least nine times.

Ness (40), who has been in Winchester 10 years, and was formerly at the Sussex Street hostel, said: "We can't stay here tonight."

John, who admitted he was a drug-user, said all he wanted was to be housed and was on a list, but not having a permanent address made that impossible. "People don't want to class addicts as people," he said.

The city council served a notice to evict the occupants of the camp last Thursday, but on Friday they still hadn't moved on.

"They are trespassing public land, which is something we don't condone," said a spokesman for the city council, adding that the authority was now applying for a notice to repossess the land through the courts.

Det Insp Dave Smith, who led the drugs search, said: "The warrant was carried out in a professional manner and we have received no complaints from the people involved, but we are happy to discuss any issues they may have."