Inside the tunnel homeless people live next to St Paul's

Tents lining one side of Castle Baynard Street, in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral, harbour the unfortunates of the capital who doze as swish bankers and businessmen cycle past on rented e-bikes. 

Smaller subways beneath Blackfriars Station - where tens of thousands of workers get the train to and from every day - serve as toilets for some, with human excrement and toilet paper lining the tunnels. 

Nowhere else is the contrast between what lies above and what lurks beneath the capital's streets more obvious than in the area surrounding St Paul's Cathedral and Blackfriars Bridge. 

Castle Baynard Street has become a home for some. (Image: SWNS)

Tent-dwellers on Castle Baynard Street awaken each day to the sight of the hallowed cathedral from one of the tunnel's openings, while from another the international headquarters of the Salvation Army can be seen in a painfully ironic sight. 

One man living in a tent inside the tunnel, who gave his name as Marius, said he had been working as a care assistant until the constant pain of a leg injury recently forced him to stop. 

The 28-year-old, who is originally from Romania and has lived in the UK for over seven years, now lives on the streets. 

Marius's mother, who lives in Germany, is terminally ill with cancer. 

He worries he may not see his mother again before she dies. 

The tunnel is near the Salvation Army HQ. (Image: SWNS)

"I've been on the streets for four months now," Marius, who did not wish to give his surname, explained. 

"I stopped working - I was a care assistant - because of a problem with my leg," Marius said, demonstrating that his right leg is shorter than his left. 

"I felt pain. Whatever I did, I felt pain. So I stopped working and went back to hospital to see what was going on. 

"The money I was making went on my rent, and that money was gone. 

"I will try to go back to work, but I'm not sure about my leg. It's dangerous on the streets, but this life is just so hard as well. It's not good. 

"It's getting very cold and I have to sleep here on the streets, which makes my leg worse.

"I ask myself why this happens... I hate this life."

Marius had to stop working due to his poor leg. (Image: SWNS)

Marius says he'd been in steady employment for four-and-a-half years before being forced to quit due to his leg - which may require an operation or even an amputation. 

Looking on at the other tents lining the long tunnel, where lorries frequently thunder past before reversing into openings, he spoke of his sadness at being unable to help his mother. 

"My mother is sick," Marius said. "She has cancer. She needs money for treatment. I don't think about [my situation]; I think about my mother. 

"She always looked after me and she's at the end of her life. I think about this a lot. But I don't have money for tickets, for food - for anything. 

"I have to wait for the doctors' decision, to see if I can work anymore."

Some don't have tents. (Image: SWNS)

Marius added that he received no help now that he no longer has a registered address, and that his tent being robbed recently has made his trying situation even more difficult. 

"We don't get any support from services," he said. "I was getting support, but I don't have proof of address anymore. 

"Sometimes I ask people from my past if they can help with some money, but I don't have any family in London. Somebody took my bed, my phone, all my bank cards [from my tent]. 

"I'm not scared [of being robbed] anymore because there's nothing else they could steal. 

"There are many people [on the streets] who have stupid minds.

"They have one problem and they don't manage it. 

"They start to take drugs and destroy their lives by themselves. 

"Of course you are in this situation if you take drugs, drink alcohol...

"But I never take drugs or drink or anything.

"It's possible to find rooms for 70, 80 pounds per week in London. It isn't much, but I don't have it. 

"I am just trying to survive. That is it."

Other men living in tents in the Castle Baynard Street tunnel said the brutal juxtaposition between them and the city's wealthy classes living above them was not lost on them. 

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"Round here, money's rife," one said. "We are talking about millions - billions, even. 

"We just come here because it's somewhere safe."

Another man on an electric bike, who said he ended up on the streets through his gambling addiction, agreed with his friend, adding that people rarely cared to notice them and their situation.