Park Lane security ramps up to stop return of migrant tent city: Guards with dogs patrol homeless hotspot near Hyde Park Corner after encampment was finally torn down
A patch of grassland running alongside the road, where the average property price is around £12million, has been used by homeless people to pitch tents for years.
The latest crackdown - which took place earlier this month - saw 50 bailiffs break up a shanty town-style encampment that had once again formed there.
Transport for London (TfL), which oversees the site, has now placed it under strict surveillance, with security staff patrolling with dogs.
They are keen to avoid another repeat of the raid, which was the fourth time in a year that enforcement officers have been called out to clear away tents.
However, when MailOnline visited several weeks ago, it appeared some of those kicked out of the encampment had returned, sparking fears the rough sleepers were bracing to build a new tent city.
Additional security has now been drafted in, including a van containing a canine unit.
Speaking of the new measures, a TfL spokesman said: 'Due to health and safety concerns, the enforcement action is focused on ensuring people are unable to pitch tents or sleep rough on the central reservation sites.'
TfL has refused to comment on the costs of its security measures.
Park Lane is one of the busiest roads in Westminster and home to some of the capital's best known hotels, including the Dorchester.
Neighbours include former Prime Minister, Sir Tony Blair, and a string of multi-millionaires whose properties overlook Hyde Park.
Photos from this month's eviction showed a large group of bailiffs beckoning people away from the area.
Residents were forced to rip down dwellings made of tarpaulin sheeting while bailiffs watched on.
Some were pictured hauling grubby-looking mattresses after being turfed out.
Up to 100 migrants were reportedly camped at the site at one point, with some vowing they would not go anywhere.
But their presence sparked fury from exasperated local residents, who wanted them to be surfed out.
The eyesore was just yards from an Aston Martin showroom and other prestigious hotels like the Beaumont, the Hyatt Regency and the Connaught.
But the tycoons looking out on the camp from their penthouses were reportedly furious at allegedly seeing people drinking at 7am and using Hyde Park's shrubberies as toilets.
Pictures taken by MailOnline last year showed homeless migrants drinking cups of vodka at 7am in their makeshift camp.
One fuming local said: 'What must tourists think when they see this?
'They get onto their open top buses to see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and all that. And then they come to Park Lane and see this - what must they think?'
He went on: 'How are they allowed to just live here? It's disgraceful. They have been here for months, and the council does nothing.
'Do you know how much I pay in council tax? And what does Westminster Council do?
'It's outrageous that they have been allowed to pitch here in the first place – but the weeks go by and yet they are still here.
'And it's even getting worse - some tents have been there for a while but more have turned up over just the last few days.'
Despite their presence ruffling feathers among wealthy residents living in Park Lane, the camp occupants claimed they had nowhere else to go.
A self-appointed spokesman for the group gave MailOnline a guided tour around the rain-sodden tents this time last year.
Residents leave the site with their possessions packed in bulging bags and suitcases when it was dismantled last summer
Sat on a rickety chair at a battered Formica topped table, the man in his 30s said: 'I came two months ago to look for a job.
'I came by plane. I haven't found a job yet but I will keep trying. We have all left our children at home.
'We don't have any food and we don't have any money. We just stay here until we can find something.'
He said most of them had got into the UK on temporary visas and were in the country looking for work to send money back to their families.
The demolition of the site is not the first time those living there have been ordered to move on.
In October last year, the illegally camped out on the patch of grassland at the heart of the capital, where the average property price is around £12million, were also evicted.
However, often when evictions do take place, it only takes a matter of days for a new encampment to spawn - and for the process to restart all over again.
Previously, homeless people who have taken up residence between the dual carriageways have been known to cause trouble with pickpocketing and anti-social behaviour.
Speaking of the latest eviction earlier this month, a Westminster City Council spokesman said: 'We're pleased that TfL has been able to clear the latest encampment on Park Lane.'
The spokesman continued: 'We've always said that the central reservation of Park Lane is not a safe place for anybody to live and the anti-social behaviour associated with this encampment was unacceptable.
'This is the fourth such clearance in the last 12 months and we share local people's impatience for a long term solution to the persistent issues at this site. TFL have committed to working with us to achieve this.'
A TfL spokesperson said: 'No one should be faced with sleeping rough on London 's streets.
'Park Lane is a busy part of the road network that is not a safe place for people to sleep rough and our focus has always been on the safety and welfare of everyone involved.
'We had to take enforcement action to regain possession of the site on two occasions last year, however, a number of people have returned with tents and other belongings.'
The spokesman added: 'There is no safe option for rough sleepers to remain at the site and we will continue to work with our partners to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
London councils' window repair delays criticised by watchdog
Several London councils have been accused of "indefensible" failures to fix broken windows in social housing by a watchdog, with some families waiting up to five Housing Ombudsman said more than half the cases involved children, warning delays had put health and safety at one case described as "inexcusable", Harrow Council took more than two years to fix a faulty window in a baby's bedroom, despite knowing about the issue before the family moved including Harrow, Lambeth and Islington apologised, saying they had since improved repairs systems. The watchdog's investigation found landlords were failing to consider the individual circumstances of residents, with some tenants left in unsafe or unhealthy conditions for Richard Blakeway said some councils allowed repairs to "drag on" because of planned major works, but argued the conditions endured by residents were "impossible to justify"."Crucially, we repeatedly see a failure to connect the circumstances of the household to the condition of the property," he said. "Reports of the risk of falling, fire safety, and exposure to cold and damp and mould are not always heeded." The report highlighted several cases:Lambeth Council took three years to address windows it knew were unfit, while the tenant was not told why the work was delayedLewisham Council left a boarded-up bedroom window in a high-rise flat for four years, despite repeated concerns from a father about his children's safety and lack of natural lightHammersmith and Fulham Council was criticised for poor record-keeping and twice wrongly marking repairs as completeIn Islington, a mother said her son's health was made worse because none of the flat's windows could close properly during winter and there was "no evidence the landlord assessed this risk", the Ombudsman said. The findings were published in the same week the National Child Mortality Database reported 13 deaths of children who fell from social housing windows in the past six years. In some cases, families had previously reported problems with broken councillor John Woolf, executive member for homes and communities, apologised for delays which he said were linked to major works. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the council was improving reporting systems and had shared changes with the Council also apologised, saying it had compensated residents, completed the necessary work, and carried out reviews to learn lessons. A spokesperson added that window restrictors were now fitted in all empty properties above ground councils said they were investing in improvements. Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow and Lambeth councils highlighted hundreds of millions of pounds spent on maintaining homes. Lewisham said it was hiring more repairs staff and strengthening record-keeping, while Islington said it would use "more robust" temporary fixes where full replacement was not LDRS said it had approached the other councils named for further comment.
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
PETER HITCHENS: We're cheating our children into toiling away for years to get a degree nobody needs
Those happy schoolgirls who leap into the air each August rejoicing over their A-levels really ought to be sunk in gloom, marching angrily with their parents to Westminster and Whitehall to demand an apology. For they have been horribly cheated, and they are now about to be trapped in impossible debt in return for 'degrees' which will 'qualify' them to work in such exalted places as bowling alleys, pest control companies, shoe shops and estate agents.
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Chadwell Heath murder investigation: Police appeal after death of woman 'in her twenties'
Police have launched a murder investigation after the death of a woman in east London. The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Chadwell Heath, near Romford, shortly after 5.30am on Saturday morning following reports of an assault. Police attended alongside the London Ambulance Service, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene in Chadwell Heath Lane, a statement said. Officers say they believe the victim to be a "woman in her twenties" and that her family has been informed. Formal identification and a post-mortem will be carried out in due course. The police are asking anyone who was in the area, who may have seen or heard anything suspicious, to contact them. No arrests have been made. Detective Superintendent Brian Hobbs said: "Our thoughts today are with the victim's family and friends in light of this truly tragic event. "Local residents will see an increased number of officers in and around the area while our investigative work is carried out. I want to thank residents for their patience while this continues."
