A north London car park was so blighted by anti-social behaviour it was taking up “half of all police time” in the area.

Harrow Council leader Cllr Graham Henson said police resources were being disproportionately spent on dealing with incidents at Harrow Viewpoint Car Park in Old Redding.

The car park has been open or closed in an on-off way since 2019 due to multiple reports of anti-social behaviour, damaging benches, littering and driving over the grass.

It was scheduled to reopen in the summer but remains closed – much to the ire of those who use the car park for walks in the nearby fields and woodland.

Read more: Pub calls for reopening of Harrow car park

Read more: Car park blighted by anti-social behaviour to reopen following renovations

Cllr Henson: “This has been an area of frustration for a period of time. The car park was closed down due to serious anti-social behaviour – it was taking up half of all police time allocated to the borough at one time.

“The weather hasn’t been quite right, they then had to level it out because it was the wrong type of clay.

“I’ve also been a bit fed up with some of the excuses that have been coming through but it is nearly finished.

Harrow Times: Car Park Closed Harrow Viewpoint (Credit: Adam Shaw) can be used by all LDRS partners

“They’ve been tarmacking the road to get some of the signalling ready for the new gates.

“Once it is finished, it will stop the anti-social behaviour that was taking place and it can go back to being used for views across Harrow.”

He promised to follow the issue up with council officers after local ward councillor Stephen Greek said he and his colleagues had been trying to get an update “for many months”.

Read more: Car park popular with walkers temporarily reopens over festive period

Read more: Car park forced to close again after more reports of anti-social behaviour

Cllr Greek said: “We were told it would reopen in June and then July and we haven’t heard anything since.

“The residents have started to notice, we also want to find out about the new security arrangements – is there any further information?”

The situation has been heavily criticised by a nearby pub – The Case Is Altered – which said it has severely hampered business as customers rely on the car park.

The Case Is Altered said in a statement: “It’s now been closed for basically two years – why has it taken the council so long to deal with it?

“They might blame Covid or the weather, but we’ve seen blocks of flats go up in this time. How can they not manage a small patch of flat land?

“People call us up asking when the car park is going to reopen so they can come and visit. And it’s not just us, so many people rely on that car park for the walks and views.”