They were once tranquil retreats where families would gather to happily play, couples would go on a romantic walk or workers would enjoy a lunchbreak.
But London's parks are being gripped by a mounting crimewave that is turning the green spaces into danger zones amid fears over knife crime, theft and assaults.
Crimes recorded by the Royal Parks, which manages 5,000 acres of green space including Hyde Park and Regent's Park, have nearly doubled in two years.
The charity recorded 101 incidents of 'crime or criminal damage' in its latest 2023/24 year, up from 76 in 2022/23; 55 in 2021/22; and 44 in 2020/21.
Sexual offences, phone thefts and drug dealing are among the crimes most often reported, while cyclists have been threatened and had expensive bikes stolen.
Now there are fears the situation could worsen after the dedicated Royal Parks Police team was scrapped as part of Metropolitan Police budget cuts announced in April – which will see the officers absorbed into local neighbourhood teams.
The Met recorded an astonishing 16,789 offences involving a bladed weapon in 2024 – about one every half an hour, according to the Office for National Statistics.
As recently as last Monday, a shocking video showed a knife-wielding attacker pulling out a huge blade and threatening a young girl at Gladstone Park in Dollis Hill .
But this is just one example of the dangers now faced by those in London's parks.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park is the most visited of London's royal parks and hosts events such as Winter Wonderland and the British Summer Time concert series.
But some of the 13million annual visitors to the park, which opened to the public in 1637, have also endured witnessing terrifying crimes in recent years.
Just last week, a defiant woman fought off a man riding an e-bike as he tried to grab her handbag in the park near Hyde Park Corner Underground station.
