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4 months ago
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A group of travellers are caught on camera breaking open the gates of a London park before driving their caravans in to set up an illegal camp.
The incident yesterday evening was captured in phone footage taken by a concerned MailOnline reader who realised what they were doing.
The group were attempting to break open a height restriction gate at Arnos Park near Southgate in north London - which had been installed after previous incursions by travellers in recent years.
The footage shows two men working at the gate’s closure mechanism for a time before successfully managing to part the gates.
At one point a woman’s voice can be heard warning them ‘you’re being filmed’ - but the pair continue to open the gates which is then the cue for five vehicles towing caravans to drive into the park.
A group of travellers were caught on camera breaking into a park in north London heading in with their convoy of caravans (pictured) before setting up an illegal camp
Two men were spotted breaking the gate at Arnos park to allow the vehicles through (pictured), as one woman warned ‘you’re being filmed’
Meanwhile a traffic jam quickly forms as the towing vehicles block cars in both directions on Waterfall Road outside the park - and car horns can be heard protesting at them to move.
The reader who took the footage, who did not wish to be named, told MailOnline: ‘They really were flagrant about breaking in - they just did it openly in broad daylight in front of dozens of passing local people.
‘We typically get travellers doing this at Arnos and other local parks like Broomfield and Oak Hill several times each summer and I always wonder how they get in - and now I know: they break in.
‘The high gates were meant to prevent vehicles like caravans getting through but plainly they are not fit for purpose.
‘They should not be allowed to do this so easily. They seem to do it on a Friday night so they have all weekend before the council get organised enough to try to move them on. It’s a joke.’
After causing traffic jams during their brazen break-in, the group set up an illegal camp in the north London park
‘They really were flagrant about breaking in - they just did it openly in broad daylight in front of dozens of passing local people,' the person who captured the footage said (pictured: a caravan)
Another resident of the fashionable suburb - where semis cost up to £1 million - said: ‘It really is selfish as their presence in the park ruins it for residents.
There’s a playground for children and tennis courts and bowls green for older people - and no one wants to use them when the travellers are there.
‘Their presence feels intimidating. And there’s always a big mess when they’ve gone and tyre marks ruining the grass and so on. It’s the second time they’ve done this in a month. The council really need to get their act together and do something.’
Enfield Council has been contacted for comment
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