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East European immigrants facing eviction from a “shanty town” on the banks of a canal in north London today said: “We’ve got to live somewhere.”

The group of around 50 men, mostly from Romania, have been served with a possession order by landowners TFL which will be heard at the High Court on Friday.

If approved, police will have powers to move the group - who have been accused by locals of turning the leafy stretch of the Lee Valley Park in Edmonton into a “filthy slum” - off the land.

Using discarded doors, boards and plastic sheets, they have created a makeshift encampment of around 10 huts each with its own front door, along with washing lines, mirrors hanging from trees, a lounge and a dining area.

Most of the men are unemployed and spend their days waiting at a nearby retail park in the hope of being picked up for construction work before returning to cook on open fires and share a bare mattress with up to six other men.

One of the group told the Standard: “We came here for jobs but we don’t often find work. I came here four months ago to send money home to my family in Romania.

“We aren’t a problem. These guys are not dangerous. We need to sleep somewhere. It’s difficult living here, there is no electricity and nowhere to wash but the canal.

“People come here just for five hours’ sleep before going off to find work again.”

Police have visited the camp regularly in the past few weeks, serving Asbos on some of the men, and the High Court documents allege that stolen car number plates and beer kegs have been found at the site.

But their presence over the past four months has sparked a row with locals who have accused the authorities of not doing enough to move them on.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s a joke, nobody wants to live near a filthy slum.”

River Lea Anglers’ Club secretary John Weighell said: “It stinks to high-heaven and you can see garbage hanging in the trees and bushes. Its looks like a shanty town in Soweto or Rio.

“They’re destroying the wildlife, intimidating the public and causing a nuisance.”

Pub landlord Shane Wilcrann added: “Walkers and cyclists, mainly female, come into the pub and tell me they’re afraid, that they see people coming out of the bushes.

“If it continues the way it is, it will turn into a mini Calais.”

But Alfie Chambers, 18, who lives on a boat on the canal, said he had no problem with the Romanians being there.

He said: “Sure there’s a lot of rubbish around, but they seem to keep their area quite clean. At first I was nervous about them but they are nice people and I’ve never felt intimidated.”

A TfL spokesman said: “We are taking the relevant legal action to remove them from the site, and are working with the local authority as well as the emergency services to agree measures to prevent their return to the site.”

Police said there was evidence that members of the public had been harassed and intimidated by the men.

Enfield Police Detective Chief Inspector Paul Healy said anti-social behaviour was a “significant and persistent problem” on the site.