'Drunken hipsters and thoughtless brats’ leave London Fields looking ‘like a warzone’ after heatwave

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
Sebastian Mann11 May 2016

Furious residents have blasted a horde of "hipsters" who descended on a popular east London park during the weekend heatwave and left it looking “like a warzone".

At least one nearby resident of London Fields claimed a “drunken orgy” was heard in the middle of the night as Hackney Council mounted a mammoth clean-up effort to clear mountains of litter strewn across the park.

A top councillor even labelled those responsible “thoughtless brats” and told them to “grow up” or stay away.

The two-day barbeque binge scorched grass and triggered calls for the practice to be banned as residents blamed the policy for bringing people to the park in unsustainable numbers.

In a post on the London Fields User Group Facebook page, one angry 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.”

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

Clean-up effort: Rubbish left behind after the weekend
Hackney Council

Speaking to the Standard, the group’s chairman Mike Martin added: “It’s disgusting, the state of the place.

“As well as the litter, there were people being allowed to sleep out in the park overnight.

“You’d think the police would come along – it’s not supposed to be allowed.”

Revellers: Park users enjoying the sun. Others came in for criticism for leaving behind litter
Mike Barker

Mr Martin - who said the park was unsustainably popular on hot days because Hackney Council allows barbeques which are banned elsewhere - added: “During the day you could have babies crawling around in the grass, cutting themselves on bottle caps.”

On social media, some said it was “hipsters” who had descended on the trendy park en masse.

Hackney Council cabinet member Cllr Jonathan McShane had harsh words for those who took advantage of the green space and left their rubbish strewn all over the park.

He said: “We do put out plenty of large bins and significant numbers of extra staff during the summer but we will always struggle when thoughtless brats make no effort to clear up after themselves.

“The people who made this mess need to grow up and understand they're not welcome in Hackney if they won't respect our parks, our parks staff and local residents.”

London Fields has permitted barbeques in a specifically designated area of the park near Broadway Market since 2011.

Cllr McShane defended the policy, which was brought in following public consultation, and said officials did their best to police the matter.

He added: “The issue here is not the number of park users but the unacceptable behaviour of a minority - all park users have the responsibility to clean up and dispose of their rubbish, including used barbeques, in the bins provided or at home.”

Others parks across the capital were also left in a state as the city basked in temperatures as high as 27C during the hottest weekend of the year so far.

Photographs on social media showed rubbish piled up in green spaces including Clapham Common and Battersea Park.

The glorious weather has since given way to less barbeque-friendly conditions, with forecasters warning Londoners to expect torrential rain as the week progresses.

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