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'Fights, sleepless nights and drug dealing': Why Primrose Hill residents want the Central London park to be fenced off

Document Cited authorities 1 Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 April 2021
Published date01 April 2021
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
The 62-acre park, only a stone's throw from houses which sell for an average of £1.2 million, is the only Central London Royal Park that is open to the public all night, often attracting mass gatherings and raves that go on into the early hours of the morning.

Drug-related crime has also become an issue, residents say, while just this week police were called to a knife fight on the hill which broke out in broad daylight in front of sunbathers.

Video footage showed large crowds of people partying on the grass until well after the sunset, and pictures taken the next day show the ground "strewn" with empty bottles, cans and plastic bags.

It's estimated that hundreds, if not thousands, of people were partying on the park.

One local resident, who did not wish to be identified for safety reasons, told My London that she was followed home by a car after she took photos of its registration plate as she suspected drug dealing -something residents claim they have been told to do by police.

She said: “It’s a far more threatening crowd that comes out after dark -we’re not talking about people enjoying the sunshine and a glass of wine at 7pm. We’re talking about people arriving in cars after 11pm and we can see them selling drugs.”

She added: “Our concern isn’t just the drug dealing outside our homes. They keep the cars running all the time so that if they see somebody they can speed off at great pace, and we’re very concerned that one of the children on our road could get in the way and be killed.”

Another resident told My London that she has witnessed people injecting heroin in the street in the area, and that her young children haven’t slept in their own bedrooms for months because of the noise outside.

The woman also voiced concerns that the situation could actually get worse when lockdown lifts.

She said: "Right now the police have the power to disperse people because of COVID regulations, but we really worry post-COVID where we’ll be because, for example, if the groups turn off their sound systems when the police approaches then the police can’t really say anything to them because the park is open to the public...

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