The café at Albany Park was trashed by intruders at the weekend but was later cleaned up by volunteers

Enfield Council hopes to be able to reopen a park café “shortly” after it was vandalised over the weekend by intruders.

The venue at Albany Park in Enfield Wash, which was only opened last November, has been closed since Sunday (25th) when the vandalism inside was discovered.

Volunteers from a local litter-picking group later helped to clean up the mess left behind, but repairs still need to be carried out before it can reopen.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “The damage and loss resulting from the break-in at Albany Park Café is completely unacceptable and we are working with the police to try and identify the culprits. In the meantime, the café has been secured while necessary repairs are carried out and we hope that it will be able to open again shortly.”

Avril Nanton, a London tour guide who lives in Enfield, posted a video on Twitter and TikTok about the damage that had been done, in which she said: “Our local park café has just been vandalised so we’ve all come along to help clear it up.

“We are fixing things, the blinds are broken, everything is broken, they have smashed up the whole place, all the stuff has been chucked everywhere, so we’re all doing the best we can today.”

After the group had finished, Avril said: “It has taken us three hours to clean up but we’ve done it – everyone’s shattered.”

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.  

More information on supporting us monthly or yearly 

More Information about donations