Hyde Park fountain turned off after rough sleepers use it to bathe

Officials turn off Hyde Park’s fountain after rough sleepers use it to bathe and wash their clothes

  • Hyde Park’s Joy of Life fountain has been switched off after people bathed in
  • Workers from Royal Parks had to drain and clean the monument yesterday
  • Witnesses say up to 50 people living in makeshift camp were washing clothes
  • But one of the homeless people said ‘we don’t have any other choice’ 

Officals say they have been forced to turn off one of London’s most iconic fountains after complaints homeless people were using it to bathe in.

Workers from the Royal Parks drained and cleaned Hyde Park’s Joy of Life fountain yesterday after reports up to 50 people were using it to wash and to clean their clothes.

The fountain, which was was designed by T. B. Huxley-Jones and dates from 1963, depicts two bronze figures holding hands while appearing to dance above the water, with four bronze children emerging from the pool.  

Workers from the Royal Parks drained and cleaned Hyde Park’s Joy of Life fountain yesterday after reports up to 50 people (some pictured) were using it to wash and to clean their clothes

It is believed that homeless people who have set up a camp near bushes on Park Lane are the ones who have been using the fountain – but they say they have no other choice. 

One, who had been using the fountain to wash, told the London Evening Standard: ‘We have no choice. The cafes say we cannot use their toilets for a wash and we have nowhere else to go to bathe or wash our clothes.’ 

A Royal Parks spokesman said: ‘It’s understandable that people are looking for ways to cool down and stay fresh in this hot weather, but under The Royal Parks Regulations, it is prohibited to bathe in our fountains. We request that park visitors do not do anything that pollutes our fountains, lakes, ponds or rivers – including bathing, personal grooming or littering of any kind.

‘If we see anyone bathing in fountains, the Metropolitan Police Service patrolling the area could move them on.’

Three years ago rough sleepers were pictured camping at a memorial to victims of the 7/7 London bombings – eating dinner off the plaque and even using the site as a makeshift toilet – on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

The homeless group were branded ‘deeply disrespectful’ by survivors after being caught on camera cluttering the Hyde Park memorial with their sleeping bags and suitcases, seemingly oblivious to what it represents.

One witness told how a mourner had gone to pay their respects early one morning only to be confronted by a ‘rubbish heap’ at the memorial

The fountain, which was was designed by T. B. Huxley-Jones and dates from 1963, depicts two bronze figures holding hands while appearing to dance above the water, with four bronze children emerging from the pool

The fountain, which was was designed by T. B. Huxley-Jones and dates from 1963, depicts two bronze figures holding hands while appearing to dance above the water, with four bronze children emerging from the pool

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