The government is trying to cut asylum seeker numbers

A senior judge ruled that a failure to offer them state help while they slept rough and begged amounted to a breach rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 3 of the convention states no-one should be subjected to "inhuman and degrading treatment".

The Home Office was given leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Human rights lawyers welcomed the judge's decision, saying it would put an end to people fleeing persecution being deprived of "a roof over their head and food to eat" while their applications were processed.

Our public authorities are obliged to respect their human rights Mr Justice Maurice Kay

Mr Justice Maurice Kay, sitting in London on Thursday, said that denying asylum seekers food and accommodation would lead inevitably to them begging on the streets.

"In those circumstances and with uncertainty as to the duration of their predicament, the humiliation and diminution of their human dignity... will often follow within a short period of time."

"Our public authorities are obliged to respect their human rights.

"No one should be surprised, if within a short period of time, the demands of Article 3 require the relief of damage to human dignity which is caused by - to repeat the words of Lord Justice Simon Brown - 'a life so destitute that... no civilised nation can tolerate it'."

And he aimed his appeal for a respect for human rights at Home Secretary David Blunkett.

"I do not suppose that any reasonable person, including the secretary of state, views the alternative with equanimity," he said.

'Degrading'

Mr Justice Kay ruled that the "degrading treatment" threshold had been reached in the cases of S, a Somali, D, an Ethiopian, and T, a Chinese national, whose lawyers had described their treatment as "a mockery of human rights".

The judge said it was "not inevitable" that anyone refused asylum support would be able to rely on Article 3 as some "are more resilient or resourceful than others".

The cases of S, D and T challenged new rules introduced in January under the 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act.

It is entirely reasonable to expect people fleeing from persecution to claim asylum as soon as reasonably practicable if they want support Home Office

Under the act, people are not allowed to claim benefits if they do not immediately apply for asylum on arrival, or as soon as reasonably practicable.

The regulations were brought in as part of the government's attempt to prevent the UK becoming a "soft touch" for bogus asylum seekers and economic migrants.

The Home Office said in a statement on Thursday that the measures had "already reduced asylum applications by a third in the early part of this year".

"It is entirely reasonable to expect people fleeing from persecution to claim asylum as soon as reasonably practicable if they want support," it said.

"We are concerned at the finding that Article 3 was breached in these cases and are therefore seeking to appeal to the Court of Appeal on this point."