A gang of Eastern European migrants accused of terrorising Mayfair with pickpocketing, theft and professional begging has once again set up camp.

At the corner of Park Lane and Oxford Street – in the shadow of Marble Arch – a dozen people lounge on litter-strewn benches, surrounded by shopping trollies stacked with bulging bin bags.

Some swig from large Peroni bottles, swollen bellies protruding from beneath their t-shirts, while others smoke and wander around aimlessly.

While they may appear idle, some of these people are said to constitute a well-oiled gang of Romanian criminals.

When approached by the Daily Mail, they freely admitted to having ‘no documents to work’ – and claim they have a ‘hard’ life with help from nobody but themselves.

But according to the workers of Oxford Street, who have become well acquainted with the returning characters, the group flies in from Romania each year and some target the tourist high season in London.

Their numbers swell during the summer months, and then again just before Winter Wonderland pitches up in Hyde Park. Between these periods, many return home with their spoils.

Several encampments have appeared on Park Lane over the past couple of years, forcing Transport for London and Westminster City Council to spend thousands to clear them out – yet still the same faces return.

Two men sitting and drinking next to Marble Arch, where the Romanian begging gang is said to gather. There is no suggestion of criminality among the individuals pictured

A group of people arrives early each morning and hangs around beneath a tree next to Marble Arch. There is no suggestion of criminality among the individuals pictured

They bring shopping trolleys stacked with bulging bins bags to transport their belongings

The ones who remain beneath the tree spend their days sitting around, chatting, eating and drinking. There is no suggestion of criminality among the individuals pictured

Not sleeping in tents for now, but bedding down each night beneath the shelter of M&S’s flagship Oxford Street store – from which many have been banned, after stealing mounds of steak and vodka.

Each morning, they cart their belongings along the road and set up in the shade of a huge London Plane tree.

Their days’ work revolves around a street begging racket, complete with shift schedules and managers, according to a barista at Pret a Manger over the road.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘What you have to understand is that these are professionals. They each know their role, whether that’s as a beggar, a pickpocket, or a shoplifter.

‘There is usually a lady stationed outside here on the pavement. She will sit there for a few hours begging for money before another one turns up.

‘They hand over the cardboard, and she takes her place. It is shift work, very well organised.

‘Some of the gang have been around for years, since before the days of the Park Lane camp, and so he has, in a strange way, gotten to know them.

‘They will come in each morning very early to get a coffee, sometimes be a bit cheeky and try to get one for free, but they don’t steal from here anymore. Other places get ransacked,’ he said.

Certain individuals even pop in to bid adieu before they pack up and leave after the tourist season.

He said: ‘They will come in here and say, “Bye bye, I’m going on holiday. I’ll be back in a couple of months.”‘

Each night, the group returns to M&S’s flagship store on Oxford Street and sleeps in the covered walkway

A security guard said some of those who sleep outside have been banned from entering the shop

The barista watched as the group constructed a camp ‘like a little village’ with a dozen tents outside the Hilton Hotel down Park Lane.

Last year, it was revealed that TfL had forked out £37,000 for bailiffs and lawyers to clear out the encampment across two summers.

The Pret worker, who didn’t want to be named, is adamant that the same group is now gathered by Marble Arch, having adopted a new base after being turfed out.

After a hard day’s swindling, they trudge back along Oxford Street to lay out their duvets along the covered walkway outside M&S.

A security guard told us the entire group is banned from the store after stealing hundreds of pounds worth of meat, alcohol and clothes.

He said: ‘They have caused us lots of problems over the years. We had to stop them coming in because they would steal – lots of stuff, very expensive.

‘If they were just stealing because they were hungry, they would take sandwiches – but they take meats, lots of steak. And alcohol – spirits like vodka, especially.

‘We often have standoffs, I have to tell them, “You’re not coming in.” After a while they get the message, but they have been violent in the past.

This was a shanty town that formed on the central reservation of Park Lane in 2024. There is no suggestion of criminality among the individuals pictured

TfL has spent tens of thousands of pounds in the past two years clearing tens from the area

‘M&S has chosen to be empathetic by letting them sleep there – the company could easily hire overnight security to clear them out. And this is how they choose to respond.

‘I have noticed more of them sleeping here in the past three or four weeks, there are about 20 here each night.’

One of the gang’s favourite targets is Sainsbury’s, where the staff have countless tales of clashes.

A manager says: ‘There are three or four different groups in the area we have problems with, but the Marble Arch lot are the worst.

‘Just yesterday, one of them stole over £100 of Ferrero Rocher from us. Chocolate is something they steal the most, or they also take the magazines. And I don’t think they take them because they like reading.

‘We’ve got the new Facewatch system – facial recognition technology that monitors the door. It is good because it sends an alert to our store phone when a troublemaker comes in.’

A security guard says: ‘They sometimes follow customers around inside the shop and try to pick their pockets. If someone bends down to look at an item, then they might be able to slip their phone from their trousers.’

Some who work in the area are more sympathetic.

An attendant at Selfridges food hall, across the road from the M&S where the group sleeps, said: ‘I sometimes give them food at the end of the day if it is going to waste.

‘I’ll just put a few pieces in a paper bag and give it to them as I walk past.’

Cllr David Harvey, Westminster City Council’s cabinet member for housing, told the Daily Mail the authority was ‘actively responding to the situation’, adding that it faces ‘unique pressures’ caused by rough sleepers from ‘across the UK and overseas’. 

‘Public spaces cannot become places for long-term encampments, nor can we accept behaviour that causes distress to residents, businesses and visitors,’ he said.

‘Where people refuse repeated offers of support, or where anti-social behaviour and public safety concerns arise, we will take appropriate enforcement action alongside our partners. 

‘While we will continue to help those who are vulnerable, we are determined to keep Westminster’s streets, parks and public spaces safe, accessible and welcoming for everyone.’

A TfL spokesperson said: ‘No one should be faced with sleeping rough on London’s streets. This a busy part of the TfL road network that is not a safe place for people to sleep rough.

‘People who have previously been sleeping rough at this site have been made aware that returning to the site is not an option and that they will be removed. 

‘We continue to work with Westminster City Council whose outreach teams can connect people to the support available to them and continue to monitor the area.’