Sleepers more than Park Lane crisis for Oxford Street

Members of a group of rough sleepers extracted from an encroachment on the park lane are believed to have moved to places with Oxford Street.

The video footage shared online shows a long line of people outside John Lewis, in which another group also sleeps by Marx and Spencer.

Westminster City Council reported that Local democracy reporting service (Ldrs) assumes that some of them were among those Park Lane Recently disintegrated by transport to London (TFL).

A council spokesperson said that the teams of some sleep were talking with people from all over the city, and “We can offer routes for hostel housing and help in drug addiction and mental health issues”.

The expansion of the park lane, which was installed on a patch of land in front of the Hilton Hotel by Hyde Park Corner, showed a similar site in the last summer. The possession was ordered by the court by TFL.

LDRS recently revealed that TFL had spent around £ 37,000 on court fees and directed Belifs and Legal Advocate in the last two years. Remove people from park laneFurther cost is expected from the court this month.

LDRS visited Park Lane nest both this year and finally, and spoke to several local businesses who expressed concern.

A person who runs a nearby restaurant said: “The problem is that we try to push them away and they will not get out. What I want to do is to get rid of them because of customers. And it is not good for the region.”

After this year’s encroachment, a TFL spokesman said that rough people in the park lane have been “informed that returning to the site is not an option and will be removed.

“Since people on this site have no safe option for rough gold, we have made arrangements to patrol the security staff in the area to discourage people from returning.”

People have been sleeping broadly on the Oxford Street over the years, and it is understood that some John Lewis and Marx and Spencer have been gathering for at least a few months.

LDR visited Oxford Street one evening last week, by which both groups started gathering outside the shops.

Many workers of businesses with Oxford Street said that they had no problem with groups themselves, although they claimed that they were aware of issues such as pickpocket affecting the shopping district.

MET Police has been contacted by LDRS to comment.

As Government dataOn a single autumn night in 2024, Westminster recorded 388 people on the streets, an increase of 40 compared to 2023.

Second place was Camden with 132 people and then 86 in the city of London.

Conservative West and Councilors Paul Fisher and Tim Barns first “invited TFL and Westminster to provide a permanent solution for illegal camps, otherwise we would return to class one. It is unacceptable in the center of our capital”.

Commenting on the sleepers on the Oxford Street, Mr. Barns said the issue to remove the tents on the park lane and the TFL and the Westminster City Council should know that the groups were connected.

He also claimed that it was part of a comprehensive problem that had become “dramatically worse” over the years.

He said: “We know that the vast majority of rough sleepers in the area are part of the gangs who are organized begging, but have rarely involved, which have ended to end their illegal trade.”

A spokesman for the Westminster City Council said: “As a local authority we have more thick sleeper than any other part of the country and we spend more than any other local authority – around £ 8m a year – to offer a route away from the roads.

“All over the city, our rough sleep teams stay out seven days a week, which talk to people living in some way or the other.

“We have more than 380 hostel beds to help rough and 100 emergency beds on the standby, so the reality is that anyone needs to sleep on the streets.”

The spokesperson said: “Over the years, we have seen people who are trafficking human beings who are being exploited for criminal behavior and are people with complex mental health or other complex social needs.

“We work with public sector colleagues, which are coordinated to ensure correct support and intervention including police, social care and health.”