SURROUNDED by white-washed boards, an overgrown plot of land on the corner of bustling West Green Road and Langham Road is exactly as you would expect the backdrop of an inner-London suburb to be.

But what is going on beyond the wall just metres from Park View Academy is both saddening and shocking.

Worse still, it is not an isolated case.

The land, owned by Presentation Housing, has become home to six Polish migrants for the past month.

Unable to find work in Poland, the men, all in their 20s and 30s, caught a bus and headed to the UK in hope of full-time work.

Instead they sleep under a sheet of corrugated iron, lying on rotten mattresses discarded by Haringey residents as no longer fit for purpose.

The men spend their days touting for work and their nights drinking cheap cider to separate themselves from the nightmare they are living in.

When one member of the community does get a pay cheque, he supports the others by buying food, cigarettes or more drink.

But when work dries up, the men often starve or get free meals from a soup kitchen at a church.

There is no sanitation at the camp; no running water; no proper toilet or place to wash.

After experiencing the camp, you would have to wonder how bad things are in Poland if living like this is the better option.

Presentation Housing is now in the process of getting a possession order at Edmonton County Court for trespassing.

The men say that a few days ago they woke up to find court notices taped to the walls.

But unable to read English, its contents were irrelevant to them.

Addressed to the 'persons unknown', it gives a date for a hearing that took place on Monday, June 15.

The men speak little English but one, named Janusz, said: "Where are we supposed to go? On the streets? This is not what I want for myself. I am a good worker. I have the skills to do flooring, roofing, anything to do with construction, but I cannot find regular work.

"Life is impossible in Poland. For six months, nothing. No job. So I saved what money I could and caught a coach to England, hoping for a fresh start."

As the men have not been working in the UK for 16 months, even as members of the EU they are not entitled to any benefits.

And as single men with no children, their chances of getting emergency housing are slim.

The community was first discovered by officers from the West Green Safer Neighbourhoods Team who spotted one of the men slipping onto the premises and after speaking to them, alerted the landowners.

Sergeant Mike Tisi, of West Green Safer Neighbourhoods Team, said as not a single complaint against the men had been filed, their existence was not a police matter.

But he added: "Of course, anyone sleeping rough is a concern. We did hand out information outlining the details of a homeless charity."

He said to his knowledge there were no similar camps operating in the West Green ward.

But last week, Haringey Council cleared out a shanty town full of migrant workers sleeping in railyway arches at the back of a car park in Westerfield Road in Tottenham Green ward.