Londoners have been warned not to visit Primrose Hill to watch this year’s New Year’s Eve fireworks after the park’s police were axed as part of a cost-cutting measure.
The royal park offers panoramic views of central London and in recent years has become a popular site for people to see in the new year.
Last year an estimated 30,000 people descended on Primrose Hill. However, this year revellers will discover the gates to the park locked shut from 8pm today until 6am on New Year’s Day.
The closure of the park comes after the Metropolitan Police disbanded the capital’s Royal Parks unit in November in an effort to help plug a £260million funding gap.
The force have denied the decision to close the park was due to the breakup of the unit.
There has been growing concerns about the safety at the park following the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Harry Pitman on New Year’s Eve 2023.
The schoolboy was in Primrose Hill to watch the fireworks display when Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, stabbed him in the neck.
He was jailed for a minimum of 16 years in November.
The Royal Parks charity, who manage Primrose Hill and a further seven parks across London, have claimed the decision to close the park was ‘was not taken lightly’.
A spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Last year, an estimated 30,000 people visited Primrose Hill to view the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve firework display. This was not an organised event with an event organiser but a gathering in open parkland, and we have limited controls that we can deploy to ensure public safety.
‘Therefore, we have decided that Primrose Hill will be closed and locked from 8pm on December 30 until January 1.’
The Met Police have claimed it is ‘not accurate to suggest’ the decision to shut Primrose Hill was necessary because the Royal Parks policing team was disbanded.
They added that the decisions to close the park was one taken by the Royal Parks, not the police.
And that of the 145 officers deployed to the area in 2024, 15 were from the Royal Parks unit.
Commander Nick John, who is charge of the Met’s New Year’s Eve policing, said: ‘The Royal Parks are urging people not to try to gather at Primrose Hill this year and we would echo those calls.
‘Please make alternative plans. Anyone trying to access the park will find that it is not possible.’
The decision to disband the Royal Park unit has led to fears that London’s lawless parks will be further ravaged by crime.
Criminal incidents reported in the parks increased by around a third from 76 in the year 2022/23 to 101 in 2023/24, according to the Royal Parks’ latest annual report.
The murder of Harry Pitman remains the most high profile violent crime to have taken place on Primrose Hill on New Year’s Eve.
The fatal incident appeared to have been sparked by a scuffle between Harry and one of the defendant’s friends shortly after 11.30pm.
Lloyd-hall had pushed forward and lunged at Harry with a pointed dagger, metres from where uniformed police officers were stationed.
In mobile phone footage played in court, a knife sheath was seen to fly through the air during the fast-paced incident.
Harry held his neck, his white T-shirt covered in blood, as he pushed through crowds calling to officers for ‘help’.
He collapsed and died minutes later, shortly before midnight.
The knife scabbard was left at the scene and was found to have the defendant’s DNA on it.
After a media appeal, Lloyd-Hall went to Hammersmith police station with his father on January 4 2024.
At his trials, college student Lloyd-Hall, who was 16 at the time, claimed he thought he had only hit Harry with the sheath in an attempt to get Harry away from him.
He said he ran off not realising what had happened because he was holding a knife and knew there were police officers nearby.
Meanwhile, terrified cyclists have become the victims of a swathe of violent robberies which has seen them threatened with hammers and sharp objects.
Preying on the groups, the often expensive bikes are regularly snatched by armed, balaclava-clad men on motorcycles, leaving cyclists petrified to go out in the capital.
The muggers have been operating in Regent’s Park where more than 30 cycling clubs meet between 5.45am and 7am each day before the area opens to cars.
Hyde Park, which is the most visited of London’s royal parks and hosts events such as Winter Wonderland and the British Summer Time concert series, has seen a rise in crime in recent years.
In June this year, a defiant woman fought off a man riding an e-bike as he tried to grab her handbag in the park near Hyde Park Corner Underground station.
The hoodie-wearing man was seen in a video on a path as he approached two women from behind, and tried to grab one of the pair’s handbags.
But the woman appeared to have heard him coming towards her. As he tried to snatch the bag, she managed to cling on to her possessions and he sped off.
In another horrifying incident in June 2021, onlookers watched as a man was chased through Hyde Park by a gang wielding machetes before being hacked to the ground.
Shocking footage showed a sprawling confrontation between a large group of youths and what appeared to be a single victim in a black tracksuit.
As members of the public fled, the gang pursued the victim through the park before he slipped and fell to the ground enabling them to punch and kick him in the head.
Other serious crimes reported in the parks include mobile phone snatching, drug dealing and sexual offences.
The Daily Mail have approached the Metropolitan Police and the Royal Parks for a comment.
