An eyesore ‘tent city’ full of homeless people in the middle of one of London’s swankiest districts has been broken up.
Enforcement teams have been called in today to tear down the encampment which has blighted Hyde Park Corner for months.
The action was taken by Transport for London (TfL), which applied for a possession order to retake the land.
MailOnline understands it was the fourth such time the site has been cleared in the last 12 months.
The camp is next to London’s West End tourist Mecca, and just a stone’s throw away from Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Speaker’s Corner, as well as Oxford Street.
Dramatic pictures this afternoon showed groups of people from the squalid site being moved on by officers, some of whom appeared to be wearing stab vests.
Occupants of the camp were forced to rip down dwellings made of tarpaulin sheeting while bailiffs watched on.
Some from the tent city were pictured hauling grubby-looking mattresses after being evicted.
For months the prime city centre spot, opposite The Dorchester – a famous hotel in Park Lane – has been plagued by people living rough.
Up to 100 migrants were reportedly camped at the site at one point, with some defiantly saying they won’t go anywhere.
But their presence ignited fury from exasperated local residents, who wanted the rough sleepers turfed out.
When MailOnline visited a previous Mayfair location last year, those living there insisted they were going nowhere.
‘We don’t have any money [to go anywhere else]. We will just stay here until we can find something,’ said someone from the group – which at the time was believed to be made up mainly of Bosnians.
The eyesore was just yards from an Aston Martin showroom and other prestigious hotels like the Beaumont, the Hyatt Regency and the Connaught.
But for 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 MailOnline last year showed homeless migrants drinking cups of vodka at 7am in their makeshift camp blighting London’s swanky Mayfair district.
One resident, whose neighbours include former PM Tony Blair and former Phones 4U chief John Caudwell, told of his anger that the group hasn’t been moved on.
He told MailOnline: ‘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 MailOnline a guided tour around the rain-sodden tents this time last year.
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.
Among the junk dotted around the camp were old shopping trolleys, pallets, crates, bottles, cans, plastic bags and boxes.
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 eviction today, a Westminster City Council spokesman said: ‘We’re pleased that TfL has been able to clear the latest encampment on Park Lane.
‘Council services were on hand to support – removing waste, storing personal possessions and pointing those displaced to appropriate services.
‘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.
‘In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved we were granted a possession order at the Central London County Court in May.
‘Following our enforcement action last month, individuals quickly returned to the site and so we were left with no option but to take further action to regain possession of the site.
‘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.’
