London Fields set for extra security after 'drunk hipsters leave park looking like a warzone' in heatwave

Revellers: Park users enjoying the sun. Others came in for criticism for leaving behind litter
Mike Barker
Hannah Al-Othman11 May 2016

Extra security is to be put in place on London Fields after complaints throngs of "drunk hipsters" left the park looking like a "warzone" during the heatwave.

Crowds descended on the popular east London park to drink, sunbathe, and have barbeques as temperatures hit 27C in the capital last week.

But residents complained the revellers left the green space strewn with litter and discarded barbecues - prompting claims they had acted like "thoughtless brats".

Other locals even claimed it sounded like a "drunken orgy" was taking place in the park at night during the sweltering weekend.

Hackney Council cabinet member Jonathan McShane, who labelled the visitors "brats", today said the local authority is planning to take action to prevent further problems over the summer.

He said extra security staff will patrol the area at night during hot weather to crack down on anti-social behaviour including littering, urinating, and selling nitrous oxide.

Packed: Hundreds of people spent the weekend at the popular east London park. Some have been accused of leaving behind an 'appalling mess'
Gareth Jones

The council will also be installing extra bins to help prevent a reoccurance of the mess left behind after last weekend, he pledged.

Cllr McShane said: "London Fields is Common Land, so it has to be open and accessible at all times so we can’t lock it up at night.

Hot weather: the park is one of few green spaces to allow barbeques

"To fine someone for littering you have to see them drop the litter and walk away. Doing this in a park when people are sat in large groups having picnics and barbecues is difficult.

"We have extra staff on throughout the summer at weekends and bank holidays, and we call on the community wardens and police when needed.

"As lots of the rubbish at the weekend was left late in the evening, our security staff will be on site until the early hours of the morning at weekends during the next hot spell.

"As in previous years, throughout the summer we will also run a number of enforcement days with the environmental enforcement team, community wardens and police where people are fined for things like littering, selling nitrous oxide and urinating.

"We’re also going to put even more bins out, so people will have no excuse for not using them."

The council has taken action after dozens of residents complained about the behaviour of visitors over the weekend.

In a post on the London Fields User Group Facebook page, one aggrieved local said: “I was simply appalled by the mess that London Fields was left in during this weekend.

“Both early Sunday and Monday mornings it was like a warzone...

“It sounds as if there was a drunken orgy going on through the night.”

On social media, the blame was levelled at "hipsters", who residents said had travelled to the park en masse.

Others parks across London were also left strewn with litter after people descended on the city's green spaces to bask in the hot weather.

Photographs posted on social media showed mounds of rubbish left behind in several of the capital's parks including Clapham Common and Battersea Park.

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