Let's talk about NYE in London

- and how abysmal the 'beefed up' security was compared to last year.

For the big fireworks display at New Year's, rather than allowing hundreds of thousands of tourists to camp on the bridges from midday for the best view, tickets are now sold for the good viewing areas. As people still live within the ticked areas, residential streets are supposed to be shut off to the general public, so we can drink our champagne and laugh at the plebs who can't afford a riverside house, so our street isn't ruined by tourists and their bodily fluids. To do this, they put up a couple of metal barriers and a couple of (untrained) 'security' staff at the top of the road, to guide visitors to the proper areas. Last year this worked well, this year was different.

By 11:30pm, we noticed strange people walking and running down our road - upon going out to investigate, we we told by the sole teenage boy on the gate that he had been 'overpowered' and had 'no radio to get help'. I grabbed some staff from nearby gates, had them radio for assistance, and cleared the street of the 30 or so teenage strangers that had invaded. As it approached midnight, however, more kept appearing - another 40 being simply let through the barriers - and climbed over the fence to the closed park, before ripping a hole in it to get through more easily.

The fireworks were fantastic - apart from Mayor Khan't feeling the need to have a booming voiceover reminding us that 'London is open', rather ironically as all the good pubs had closed at 5pm so they didn't have to deal with drunk tourists.

Being still pissed off about all the trespassers, who did more damage to the park fence when breaking out of it, I spoke to the gate supervisor who had managed to turn up during the event; she told me they were chronically understaffed, and didn't have enough equipment like radios. Although we had 'the most police ever' patrolling central London, as they all had jobs to do and places to be, they were also essentially understaffed and could only leave their beats for proper emergencies. There was nothing they could do.

Why does a few trespassers wanting to watch the fireworks bother me?
Because if some teenage yobs can get through the barriers and break into the park so easily, what is there to stop a terrorist doing the same? What if there had been an actual security situation? The guy supposed to be manning the gates could barely be older than 20, had no security training, and no radio to ask for backup. In a year when the security was supposed to be the best ever, it is simply unacceptable that the fireworks event organisers can get away with such shoddy management.