Someone has been repeatedly smearing excrement over play equipment at Downhills Park, reports Taro Kaneko

Play equipment smeared with poo at Downhills Park

Mystery surrounds the repeated smearing of poo on play equipment at a Tottenham park.

The “poo-mageddon” attacks by an unknown assailant on a children’s play area and café in Downhills Park have been happening almost every week since July – putting off families from visiting.

The park’s café has seen a 70% decrease in the number of customers since the faecal vandalism began six months ago, according to owner Neri Gun.

Haringey Council’s parks boss says they are doing “what we can” to find the perpetrator, with police also stepping up their patrols.

Neri told Haringey Community Press: “Families no longer want to come to the park and it is affecting my business, It may not be financially viable for me to stay open for much longer.

“It used to be a family friendly and safe area, but now us staff members of the café feel unsafe and targeted. We are very nervous to be here, so we are starting to close earlier for our own safety.”

Neri said she arrived to her café one morning to find ten shopping bags full of excrement thrown on to the roof of her café.

In her nine years of owning and running the café, she says she has never experienced anything as serious and threatening as this.

In the face of having to clean up every poo attack herself and fewer locals attending the park, Neri fears she might have to close down the café.

Tottenham resident and park user Jennifer added: “The locals are up in arms about it – this is poo-mageddon.

“My friends had their children playing in the play area without having noticed there was poo on the equipment.

“This is awful and the lack of action from the council is really disappointing.”

The schoolteacher said that there are three schools in walking distance of the park, with children swarming the park every day after school.

After this was brought to the council’s attention, park users began seeing posters warning people of active CCTV cameras at the park.

Jennifer said in the past three weeks the children’s play area had been smeared with faecal matter each weekend.

She said: “This is a safety concern for our children and there had been no proactiveness from the local authorities to address the issue for months.

“They are putting up posters about CCTV cameras, but that is not enough.

“I’ve lived in the borough for 14 years and I’m now having to tell my son not to go to the park.”

Emily Arkell, the council’s cabinet member for culture and leisure, said: “The public health, safety and welfare of our park users is very important and we are doing what we can to catch the perpetrator of this disgusting and irresponsible conduct.

“The police have increased their patrols in the park and our staff check all play equipment first thing every morning, ensuring it is cleaned and sanitised as a matter of urgency if an incident occurs.”

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