Anthony Sinclair, 70, was detained by police last November after Suella Braverman, home secretary at the time, called for a crackdown on the homeless tents – which she said was a “lifestyle choice”.

Mr Sinclair refused to leave his tent after he was given 90 minutes to obey a dispersal order. He was arrested and detained but the charges have now been dropped.

He said: “The treatment that I and others received at the hands of police officers was inhumane.

“I was arrested for refusing to leave the place where I had been living for eight months and, while I was held for six hours in custody, my tent and other belongings were taken away and destroyed.

“I am glad to see this admission from the police that this was wrong, and I hope that no one in the future receives the treatment that I did.”

Mr Sinclair, who is still sleeping rough, was supported by human rights group Liberty.

Its lawyer Lana Adamou said: “Increasingly, people living on the streets are being subject to unfair and degrading treatment by police, putting them at risk of harm.

“This government is criminalising poverty and homelessness and police are misusing powers they have been given as a short-term fix to remove people from an area, instead of providing support or dealing with the root causes of these issues.”