Primrose Hill in central London will be closed on New Year's Eve for the first time in years, preventing an estimated 30,000 revelers from gathering to watch the city's fireworks display. The Royal Parks charity announced the park will shut from 8pm on December 30 until 6am on January 1, citing safety concerns after the Metropolitan Police disbanded its dedicated Royal Parks police unit due to a £260 million funding gap.
The decision follows a fatal stabbing at the location during New Year's Eve 2023, when 16-year-old Harry Pitman was killed on Primrose Hill. Areece Lloyd-Hall, 18, was jailed in November for a minimum of 16 years for the murder.
A Royal Parks spokesperson said: «The decision to close Primrose Hill on New Years Eve was not taken lightly. Last year an estimated 30,000 people visited Primrose Hill to view the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve firework display. This was not an organised event with an event organiser but a gathering in open parkland and we have limited controls that we can deploy to ensure public safety. Therefore, we have decided that Primrose Hill will be closed and locked from 8pm on December 30 until January 1.»
Police Response
The Metropolitan Police emphasized the closure was The Royal Parks' decision, not theirs. A Met spokesperson said: «The decision to close Primrose Hill on New Year's Eve is one taken by the Royal Parks, not the police. Officers from that team made up just 15 of the more than 145 officers who were deployed to Primrose Hill on New Year's Eve last year. This is similar to the makeup of deployments in previous years.»
Commander Nick John, in charge of the Met's New Year's Eve policing, urged people to make alternative plans. «The Royal Parks are urging people not to try to gather at Primrose Hill this year and we would echo those calls. Please make alternative plans. Anyone trying to access the park will find that it is not possible,» he said.
The Royal Parks charity previously stated their capacity to manage crowds of 30,000 would be "severely diminished" without the dedicated police unit, which was disbanded in November as part of cost-cutting measures.
Emergency Services on Alert
Commander John outlined the broader policing plans for New Year's Eve across London. «This is always one of the busiest nights of the year for us and working alongside our partners we start the planning many months ahead of time. We will be working closely with our emergency services colleagues to make sure Londoners and the huge number of people visiting the capital can welcome in 2026 in safety and security,» he said.
He urged responsible behavior: «Please help us by being responsible and only calling 999 in a genuine emergency. Every unnecessary call – whether to the police, the ambulance service or the fire brigade – risks delaying us getting urgent help to those who need it most.»
Tickets for the Mayor of London's official fireworks display around the London Eye and Big Ben are sold out. Mark Sidaway, Met Office deputy chief forecaster, predicted cool conditions: «It certainly looks like we are in for a taste of winter as we welcome in the New Year, initially in the north, but more widely across the UK for the first week of 2026.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
