An elderly couple were screamed and chased by a homeless man when walking through the park
An affluent square in central London outside Queen Elizabeth II's favourite hotel has been overrun by "aggressive" rough sleepers, leaving locals and tourists terrified.
Grosvenor Gardens sits right outside Victoria Station and is in the shadow of The Goring Hotel; with a single night at the late Queen’s favourite hotel setting guests back £800.
The gardens sit just a mile away from Andy Burnham’s 10 Downing Street residence, with the new Prime Minister stating that he would end rough sleeping as his first policy pledge of his premiership.
Locals told the Daily Mail of the havoc the dozens of homeless people were causing.
They were seen screaming at tourists as well as drinking alcohol whilst workers were trying to enjoy their lunch break.
Bally Singh, who runs the Charles of Belgravia off-licence, recalled how homeless people broke into his shop and stole £1,000 worth of alcohol and cigarettes.
He said: “This was the first robbery I've had in my shop in over 100 years of ownership.
“They were very foolish thieves as they put their stolen goods into a rubbish bag from the council, which is red in colour.
“An hour later, police found them in the coach station with the bag - however the bottles had smashed, destroying all the goods.
“It's terrible. I had to replace the door and the lock on my shutters as they broke the motor."
Mr Singh said that another man repeatedly stole ice cream from a freezer left outside the shop, while others have left shoes and belongings on the stand.
“We informed the council about it in a very big email, and there are guards patrolling around,” he added.
A receptionist at a nearby hotel, named Varundi, said: “So often they're just coming here, they try to bother guests, they try and use our restrooms.
“Of course we cannot physically touch them because that's against law, but sometimes it's really difficult for us to kick them out of here.
“We're trying to be nice to them because if they're using the restroom, it's fine, as anyone can use it, but it's not truly sanitary.
“If you look at the back of the building, you will find someone who has been sleeping there for the last three days.
“We now have a hotel room that we can not open the blind to, as they would be bothered.”
A local barista said that the newly installed security does help; however, staff are still being “abused.”
He said: “We have been physically abused by the homeless people in the area.
“They throw things at us when we tell them to stop stealing our food and they get angry."
“They can be loud and aggressive. They take between £80 and £100 every day, one guy took £64 worth of food in one go."
Councillor Caroline Sargent, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Enforcement at Westminster City Council, said:
"Local people and businesses are fed up with rough sleeping sites springing up, and so are we. This is totally unacceptable in the heart of a capital city.
"As a Council we do all we can to help people sleeping rough off the streets and spend £8m a year on support ranging from hostels to addiction treatment.
"While many people we engage with support to move away from rough sleeping, some locations can also attract individuals involved in anti-social behaviour and, in some cases, criminal activity.
"We work with partners to address both issues, recognising that rough sleeping and ASB are separate challenges requiring different responses.
"Andy Burnham has pledged to end rough sleeping - we'd like to take him up on that. We need everyone to play their part - immigration, police and businesses so that we end this problem for good and this needs the urgent support of the Home Office."
