Local businesses have complained of people allegedly stealing alcohol and solvents.
The camp on Euston Road has been around since 2022 (Image: w8media)
More than 40 tents have sprung up on a central London road, with local shopkeepers reporting repeated thefts and anti-social behaviour. Camps on the central reservation of Euston Road are reportedly home to dozens of rough sleepers, many understood to be from Romania and Bulgaria.
Local businesses have complained of people allegedly stealing alcohol and solvents, while residents have described intimidation when they attempt to film what is happening. One shopkeeper said: “They steal alcohol and solvents from my shop on a daily basis – I’ve lost hundreds, if not thousands, in business as a result.”
He claimed the problem had been continuing since the summer of 2023, adding that police had been called several times, but the situation had not stopped.
He told the Daily Mail: “You call them out, and they get very aggressive; they hate you filming them.”
The Euston camp is located in Sir Keir Starmer’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency. The camp has grown to more than 40 tents since it first appeared in August 2022, despite visits from council homelessness teams and police.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers were aware of the congregation and were working with partners to find a “long-term solution”.
Camden Council said its priority was to help those sleeping rough “rebuild their lives away from the streets”, while also working with partners to ensure the area remained safe and maintained.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Maria, from the Romanian city of Timișoara, claimed she had come to the UK for a “better life” and alleged she had only been in the camp for a month. It was unclear if she was in the UK legally.
Asked why she was in the UK, she claimed: “There are no possibilities, no housing in Romania. I am homeless. That’s why I am here.
“[Camden Council] are wicked, they are not helping me find housing and they are now on holiday. I’m not happy, I cry, I am always very stressed. I don’t want to be here.”
The Daily Express went to the Marble Arch camp with Chris Philp (Image: Jeremy Selwyn)
The Daily Express previously exposed an organised Romanian begging gang operating in central London.
The investigation found members of the gang had been operating around Marble Arch, with its alleged ringleader Iliuta Gruia previously receiving a restraining order in Romania after threats to kill children.
The Express also confronted members of the gang alongside Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who said those found guilty of crimes should be deported.