‘Selfish’ sunseekers have sparked fury after they returned to a Hampstead Heath wildlife pond for a third consecutive day – and were filmed splashing and throwing balls during nesting season.
Hundreds of revellers descended upon the Model Boating Pond in north London on Wednesday, which is supposed to be a ‘no swimming zone’ and safe haven for nesting birds.
But – after already being hit with backlash from livid locals – the groups continued to ignore signs as they were filmed scaring groups of ducks away from the pond.
In other footage, swimmers were spotted carelessly throwing balls amongst each other and splashing through the water with music blaring in the background.
Sun-dwellers clad in bikinis and swim shorts were later seen wading through the water on inflatables to a secluded area at the back of the pond, where the ducks had retreated for some peace and quiet.
Furious residents say the protected habitat has become a ‘party destination’ – and have accused the City of London Corporation (COL) of ‘letting it happen’.
One person, who filmed the swimmers, said: ‘The protected habitat, funded by public donations, is now being used as a swimming and party destination.
‘Many people donated believing they were helping to create a safer environment for wildlife. Instead, the ongoing lack of enforcement has allowed repeated disturbance to continue. The COL are fully aware of the problem, the question is why so little is being done to stop it.’
The partiers left some residents crying in the street over the Bank Holiday weekend after their rowdy behaviour persisted late into the night.
‘Selfish’ sunseekers have sparked fury after they returned to a Hampstead Heath wildlife pond for a third consecutive day
Swimmers were filmed splashing directly next to ducks – before eventually booting them off inflatables
Furious locals say the protected habitat has become a ‘party destination’ – and have accused the City of London Corporation (COL) of ‘letting it happen’
Sun-dwellers were later spotted approaching an area at the back of the pond where the birds had retreated for some peace and quiet
Youths stayed in the pond until as late as 2am on Tuesday with blaring music blasting. Earlier in the day, a sad-looking swan was filmed plodding around the pool through dozens of people.
Hampstead is one of London’s most sought-after neighbourhoods, where houses usually sell for more than £1.5million.
The local authority told the Daily Mail that people had been swimming in ‘non-lifeguarded ponds’ and described their actions as ‘utterly appalling’.
It is understood they were in a pond where the council had recently announced a scheme to create a safe haven for nesting birds, which had been backed by £50,000 in public donations.
Meanwhile, Hampstead Heath’s popular Parliament Lido was forced to close yesterday due to ‘unacceptable behaviour’ from swimmers.
One regular café user said they heard one person had hit another over the head with a vodka bottle.
Chair of the COL’s Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee, Alderman Gregory Jones KC, said: ‘The recent conduct of some visitors swimming in non-lifeguarded ponds is utterly appalling.
‘Swimming is only permitted in the Mixed, Ladies’ and Men’s Ponds for safety reasons.
‘Entering other non-lifeguarded water bodies is extremely dangerous, against our byelaws, and causes significant harm to wildlife habitats.
‘We always seek to engage with visitors first, but the Constabulary will take enforcement action where necessary, including issuing fines or making arrests.’
Josephine McCarthy, a Highgate resident, told the Daily Mail that locals had been begging people to leave the swans alone.
‘It’s absolutely terrible what they’re doing in the wildlife lake,’ she said. ‘They are violating absolutely everything it’s supposed to be and it’s so upsetting.’
On Tuesday, groups were spotted doing somersaults in the pond, which is supposed to be a ‘no-swimming zone’
Revellers also took their dogs into the water, where the council had only recently announced a scheme to create a safe haven for nesting birds, which had been backed by £50,000 in public donations.
A video posted on social media showed a sad-looking swan gently prodding an unhatched egg with its beak in the water after it had fallen from its nest
She said that swans had been abandoning their cygnets in the last few days after being frightened off by swimmers.
‘They’ve been going in the water with sun cream on, which is so dangerous for the wildlife,’ Josephine added.
‘Everybody is absolutely furious, we’ve been literally crying in the street.
‘The City of London Corporation is supposed to be managing it, but if they can’t even protect the wildlife, then what are they doing with their funding?’
One local, who did not wish to be named, said the local authority had spent millions of public money to make a sanctuary for the birds.
‘This pond is sacred and they are not allowed in that pond,’ the mother said.
‘There’s an enormous sign that you can see from f***ing space. They were all in there on Monday with beach balls like they were at the beach, while birds were trying to rescue their eggs.’
The RSPB told the Daily Mail it was ‘a crucial time of year for breeding birds which just want to nest and care for their young in peace’.
‘Along with the dangers of swimming in unauthorised places, there is a significant risk of disturbing wildlife,’ a spokesperson for the charity said.
‘Many species are already under huge pressure and disturbance can make a parent abandon their nest, putting eggs and chicks at risk.
‘Everyone has a part to play in protecting nature so we’d urge people to be responsible and give birds and other wildlife plenty of space when outdoors this summer.’
Andrew Knight, a veterinary professor of animal welfare, also waded into the row after viewing the clip.
He said in a post on Facebook: ‘Hundreds of people. One protected London pond. Peak nesting season. Ducks, swans, 12-day-old cygnets.
‘And yet… splash splash splash.
‘Locals are furious after heatwave revellers turned Hampstead Heath into a beach club.
‘Right now, birds are still raising their young. Nesting season isn’t over. Disturbance from swimmers — splashing, noise, dogs, and crowding near nesting sites — can cause parent birds to abandon nests or leave chicks vulnerable.
‘No fines. No enforcement. Just the same people hopping back in the moment officers leave.
‘Here’s the uncomfortable question nobody wants to ask: Are we so addicted to our own enjoyment that we’ve stopped noticing when we’re the problem?
‘Because “I didn’t know” doesn’t work anymore.
‘The signs are there. The nesting season is the same every year. And ‘everyone else was doing it’ isn’t a defence—it’s a confession.
‘We expect nature to be resilient. But resilience isn’t a free pass for selfishness. Is my brief pleasure worth more than a bird’s life?
‘The heath is a home for wildlife, they were here first.’
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who has swam in Hampstead Heath’s Ladies Pond and been critical of the council’s rules on allowing trans people to use single-sex facilities, shared the clip on her X account and said it was ‘ignorance for all to see’.
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is illegal for any person to intentionally or recklessly disturb any wild bird while it is building a nest or is in, on or near a nest containing eggs or young.
It carries a fine of up to £1,000, if convicted.
One swimmer stands in the water as swans and their cygnets swim nearby
Dozens of sunseekers ignored a huge ‘no swimming’ banner at Hampstead Heath to take a dip in the water where swans were nesting
The video was posted on Instagram account @swansofhampsteadheath who hit out at the City of London Corporation.
‘We’ve all known for over a week that this was going to be a hot Bank Holiday weekend, and @cityoflondonheath had every opportunity to prevent last year’s scenes from repeating themselves but they failed to do so,’ they wrote.
‘We are currently in peak nesting season. There are still eggs waiting to hatch, ducklings and chicks only days/weeks old, and for the first time in years, swans have successfully nested on this pond, with cygnets now just 13 days old.
‘Restricting these birds to a small section at the back of the pond makes it incredibly difficult for them to access the natural food they need to survive.
‘COL continue to show they are either unable or unwilling to provide sufficient staff to properly manage the non-swimming ponds.’
They claimed that swimmers are only temporarily cleared from the water by officers but ‘with no fines issued and no meaningful enforcement’.
‘The same people return to the pond the moment officers leave,’ the post added.
‘The non-swimming ponds are increasingly being treated as beach destinations.
‘Large numbers of people entering shallow water damages sensitive aquatic habitat, disturbs nesting wildlife, churns up sediment, and impacts water quality in an already fragile ecosystem.
‘I wrote to COL last year explaining that the signage was ineffective. By failing to properly protect these spaces, they are allowing the Heath to become overwhelmed, making it increasingly difficult for regular visitors to enjoy one of London’s most important urban wild spaces.
‘People travel from all over London to party in this pond with little regard for its wildlife.
‘The Heath should not have to lose its nature to accommodate people unwilling to respect it.’
Sian Whitehead visited Hamstead Heath pond yesterday and said the crowds of people entering the water had showed ‘no respect for the waterbirds and swam over to where the swan’s nest was which had unhatched eggs on it’.
She said: ‘I heard that one person even sat in the nest as if that was something funny to do. The swans have now abandoned that nest as it has been violated and obviously doesn’t feel safe.’
The City of London Corporation is currently in the midst of creating a safe haven for nesting birds on Hampstead Heath’s Model Boating pond.
The scheme has been backed by £50,000 in donations and will detach the land causeway linking the island to the edge of the pond.
Announcing the project in February, Mr Jones said it would give species a ‘safe space to feed, rest, and nest, free from human disturbance’.
‘It’s a place they already use, and soon they’ll have it all to themselves,’ he said.
It comes as Britain is set to swelter through another day of blistering heat after forecasters warned temperatures could climb as high as 33C again – following a record-breaking spell that has already claimed six lives.
The Met Office confirmed Tuesday became the hottest May day ever recorded in both England and Wales, with temperatures soaring to a provisional 35.1C at Kew Gardens in south-west London and 32.9C at Cardiff’s Bute Park.
Travellers are also being warned that trains may be cancelled as the hot weather can cause the steel on the railways to expand, leading to buckling and damage to the lines.
People lined the banks as others, young and old, waded through the water and floated on inflatables
The sunseekers’ actions during peak nesting season have invoked the fury of locals with the City of London Corporation being accused of not doing enough to protect wildlife
The pond is home to newly hatched chicks, with some only 13 days old
The unprecedented spring heat has sent thousands flocking to beaches, lakes and rivers across the country, but emergency services have been stretched by a string of fatal incidents involving children and teenagers getting into difficulty in open water.
Among the victims was 15-year-old Declan Sawyer, who died after entering the water at Swanholme Lakes in Lincoln on Sunday.
In West Yorkshire, a 13-year-old boy died after getting into trouble at Leadbeater Dam near Halifax on Monday afternoon. Police said he was pulled from the water and rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
A teenage girl’s body was also recovered from Kingsbury Water Park in Warwickshire, while another teenager was found dead in the water at Rother Valley Country Park in South Yorkshire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
And on Tuesday evening, Lancashire Police confirmed a body had been recovered from the River Ribble after a 12-year-old boy disappeared while swimming with friends at Ribchester.
The tragedy continued in Cornwall when a man in his 60s suffered a cardiac arrest after entering the sea at Tregirls Beach near Padstow in a desperate attempt to rescue two relatives who had got into difficulty in the water.
The family members were brought safely ashore by members of the public, but the man died at the scene.
Ireland has also been gripped by the same early-summer heat, with a teenage girl dying after getting into difficulty in the sea at Burrow Beach near Howth on Sunday.
Met Eireann said Ireland provisionally recorded its hottest ever May temperature on Tuesday at 30.5C.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution warned swimmers not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the soaring temperatures, stressing that water temperatures remain dangerously cold despite the sunshine.
The RNLI said there was a ‘very real risk’ linked to swimming in open water during the heatwave and warned of cold water shock.
The National Fire Chiefs Council has also issued an urgent safety warning, urging parents to speak to children about the dangers of swimming unsupervised in lakes, reservoirs, canals and rivers.
Despite slightly cooler conditions expected in some regions on Wednesday, forecasters say south-west England could still see highs of 32C to 33C.
Temperatures are then expected to remain stubbornly high through the week, with London and the East Midlands forecast to hit 32C on Thursday before easing slightly by the weekend.
The extreme weather has already caused widespread disruption on Britain’s railways, with Network Rail forced to impose speed restrictions amid fears tracks could buckle in the heat.
Britain also endured what meteorologists described as a ‘tropical night’ on Monday, after temperatures failed to drop below 20C in parts of the country.
