Patrols have been taking place around London Road car park (credit: Google Maps)
Barking and Dagenham Council has had professional dog handlers in the London Road car park every day since Wednesday, 14 July.
In total, they have ejected 25 people who shouldn’t be there.
The increased security is part of the Council’s plans to improve safety in the area.
Another eight people were ejected during regular Community Safety patrols also taking place by the authorities and police.
The 24 hour CCTV in the car park is under review with plans to upgrade it.
The Council are looking at implementing a tannoy system to warn people that CCTV is operating and that they are being watched.
Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “Nobody should feel worried or anxious about parking their car in one of our car parks, whether that’s to go to work, do some shopping or to see friends and family.
“That’s why we’ve listened to our residents who have raised concerns and we’re now working hard to improve the conditions and security in our car parks.
“Ensuring that residents feel safe when out and about in the borough is an absolute priority and we’re currently exploring several initiatives to make sure this is the case, such as the Safe Haven scheme and the Women’s Safety Survey.”
During the inspections, officers identified several rough sleepers and some antisocial behaviour offenders.
Officers are engaging with them, but the Council have said: “if they continue to breach the rules, we will issue legal enforcement powers to prohibit them from the car park.”
The car park is also cleaned regularly, and the cleaning teams have a reporting procedure in place to inform the enforcement team of any antisocial behaviour.
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Tags: Barking, Barking and Dagenham