Asylum seekers are having to sleep rough because ministers have introduced inhumane restrictions on benefits, the High Court was told yesterday.

The rules, which came in last month, stop asylum seekers obtaining food and shelter from the state unless they lodge a claim on arrival in the UK.

Human rights and refugee groups are challenging the rules under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights which forbids signatory states treating people in an "inhumane or degrading" way.