Security has been ramped up on Park Lane to prevent the return of a migrant ‘tent city’ that has had to be repeatedly broken up by bailiffs.
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 Daily Mail 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.’
Security patrolling the site of the Park Lane homeless encampment with dogs
A security guard patrolling the spot, which has been used to pitch tents for years
People gather on Hyde Park Corner days after a camp was broken up
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.
Bailiffs removed the group following an eviction order obtained by Transport for London (TfL)
The group was ordered to dismantle their tents and move on from the location. Some enforcement officers appeared to help them take down their tents
A group of loiterers sitting on the grass – which is next to the dual-carriageway
Homeless people living in Hyde Park Corner were evicted from their ‘tent city’ earlier this month
Homeless people begging next to Marble Arch
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 the Daily Mail last year showed homeless migrants drinking cups of vodka at 7am in their makeshift camp.
The eviction action was the fourth time groups of homeless people living in tents have been moved on from the land over the past year
Those living at the site close to some of London’s swankiest areas were told to take down their temporary dwellings by enforcement officers
Many of those living rough at the camp were seen packing up their belongings
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 the Daily Mail a guided tour around the rain-sodden tents this time last year.
One bearded man was photographed filling a glass with vodka last year before taking a drag on a cigarette
Rough sleepers pictured last year at a table in the middle of their ‘tent city’ which is close to London’s tourist hotspot
The camp was just a stone’s throw away from Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Speaker’s Corner and Oxford Street. Pictured: last year
National Eviction Team officers previously broke up the camp last year (pictured)
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.’
Groups of people are pictured packing away their tents and belongings in Hyde Park on Friday under the watchful gaze of enforcement officers, who were there to evict them
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.’
