Groups of “antisocial” drivers have begun gathering in the evening at the otherwise peaceful park with “horrendous” noise being reported by locals, reports Joe Ives

Joyriders have been doing 'doughnuts' on the car park at Forty Hall (credit Joe Ives) — Joyriders have been doing ‘doughnuts’ on the car park at Forty Hall (credit Joe Ives)

Joyriders are making the most of Enfield Council’s failure to lock Forty Hall’s car park on time – decorating its surface with tyre marks, causing loud noise at night and intimidating locals.

The public car park at Forty Hall Estate is meant to be locked by the council at dusk. With the long summer days, the council says this is 9pm, but the Dispatch this week found both the park gates and car park barrier left open more than 45 minutes after this time. Instead of clearing out, drivers were speeding down the adjoining Forty Hill road to join groups of people already there with their cars.

Tyre marks, indicative of people doing doughnuts in their cars, were visible across the car park’s surface. Littered among many of these black circles were pieces of rubber tyres.

Reverend Chris Bolster, the vicar of nearby Jesus Church, said he’d seen the gates left open as late as 10pm and that he hears people making noise and doing doughnuts in their cars several nights a week. He said the incidents started around March, with drivers drawn in due to longer days and better weather – while restrictions on the use of other locations in Enfield for ‘car meets’ have been introduced in recent years.

Rev Bolster said he’d seen up to three cars, accompanied by spectators, misusing the car park at night. “They are making horrendous noise,” he explained. “You can hear it from far away.

“It’s antisocial behaviour and that’s all there is to it.”

The vicar approached a group around a few weeks ago to ask them to leave. The drivers and their spectators responded aggressively, he said. Rev Bolster then contacted the police regarding the group, but by the time an officer arrived the drivers had gone.

Tyre marks visible on the tarmac at Forty Hall’s car park (credit Joe Ives)

He is not alone in feeling an intimidating atmosphere at the Forty Hall car park. In an online Google review, one woman wrote she had “come across groups of young people, which can make you feel uncomfortable if you’re on your own”.

During the Dispatch‘s visit on Tuesday (17th), some drivers appeared hostile to outsiders and could be heard talking about being on the lookout for police.

In previous communications, explaining why gates were open late into the evening, a council spokesperson explained that due to caretakers having to close multiple parks each night, some might be locked “slightly” after the scheduled time and that joyriders were gaining access by arriving before the gates are due to be locked. In a later contradictory statement, they added: “Although the parks aren’t physically shut, it is still closed to the public.”

The Dispatch also asked the council if the drivers could be intimidating park caretakers, preventing them locking the gates. But the spokesperson insisted they’d not had such reports. They said: “We highly recommend that the public report any anti-social behaviour [ASB] online on our website or if there are concerns about safety, to contact the police.

“We would strongly recommend that any issues, including those related to ASB, are reported directly to the council and, if appropriate, to the police.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.