'Weekend of parties' at Brighton park with illegal tent

According to people working nearby, a “constant flow” of drunken revellers used Old Steine Gardens as a base for the noisy gatherings “all hours of the day” over the weekend.

The parties came after Brighton and Hove City Council officials slapped the tent with a "no camping notice" last week as those inside were discovered not to be homeless.

One local business manager, who asked not to be named, said: “All weekend we had a constant flow of ‘guests’ from the city’s shelters, hotels, tents and streets drinking heavily, shouting, arguing, urinating and defecating in the bushes, screaming and shouting, dancing and spinning, collapsing and passing out.

“The council is doing nothing, the situation is endemic of the council’s abandonment of the city’s central commercial and touristic zone. Old Steine Gardens is pitch black at night, dangerous to walk through and with the addition of substance abusers encamped in the shadows is not acceptable to the residents of Brighton.”

The tent has now been pitched on the city centre green for nine days.

Officials visited the site last Tuesday to speak to people following complaints.

However, after a look around the green, they concluded it was no longer there and left the scene.

Officials later returned after it was pointed out the tent was still pitched among the trees at the bottom of the park and served it with a "no camping notice".

The councils said people linked with the tent had engaged in anti-social behaviour in the area, which had been reported to police.

Conservative spokeswoman for housing, councillor Mary Mears, said: “If the council are saying they’ve issued a notice and they’re saying they’re not homeless, why hasn’t it been dealt with why have people been allowed to stay and party? What sort of message that send out?

“I was shocked when I saw the pictures, I thought council was taking this seriously.”

Brighton and Hove City Council was contacted for comment.