EXCLUSIVE Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park plagued with 492 thefts and 139 ... trends now
Assaults, sex attacks, robbery, drugs and firearms possession are among the 790 offences recorded by police at Winter Wonderland over the last five years it has run.
In the last year alone, the Metropolitan Police recorded 135 offences at the festive family-friendly attraction in Hyde Park, data obtained through freedom of information requests has revealed.
This was up six from the previous year, which saw 129 offences reported, although from 2018 to 2021 the number had been falling.
More than 15 million people have attended Winter Wonderland over the last five events.
The most common type of crime plaguing the venue is theft, with 492 offences recorded since November 2017.
Winter Wonderland is a sprawling annual Christmas attraction in Hyde Park which attracts around two million visitors every year
Although the situation has improved over the last few years, with the number of thefts falling from 123 in 2018 to 79 in 2021, they spiked again over the season just gone, with 110 theft offences recorded by the Met Police.
Last year, a woman reported having her £685 Balenciaga trainers stolen while ice skating at the attraction.
Since 2017, there have been 139 violent offences at or in the vicinity of Winter Wonderland, 72 of those resulting in injury, police data showed.
The number of offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police since 2017
A number of violent fights have made headlines in recent years, including footage of a brawl breaking out in December 2019, as revellers queued to get into the main beer hall at the Bavarian Village.
In the last five years that Winter Wonderland has run - excluding 2020 when it was cancelled due to the pandemic - 15 sexual offences, 28 robberies and 46 drugs offences have been recorded.
There were also 49 offences recorded by police for possession of weapons, the majority of which (30) were for firearms offences.
Six of those weapons offences were for possession of an article with a blade or point, Met Police figures showed.
Ten public order offences including racially and religiously aggravated public fear, alarm and distress were also recorded.
The Met Police data includes offences recorded as being outside, near or opposite the venue.
While police do
