Parents and staff at a nursery are “thrilled” after the council erected a seven-foot mesh fence to stop homeless people and drug users camping in a nearby carpark.

Low Hall Nursery School in Low Hall Lane, Walthamstow, had been blighted by the problems for months and parents were worried for their children’s safety.

In June, a concerned family told the Guardian they had witnessed a man smoking heroin outside the nursery and said the pavement was scattered with needles.

But Headteacher Helen Currie said when the children were welcomed back in September after their summer holidays parents got the news they had been waiting for.

“It was a big problem from spring onwards and we had been working with the council to support the homeless people and to remove rubbish from the site,” said Ms Currie.

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“It was a worry. We didn’t really have regular contact with the homeless people. They just stayed in that spot. There were tents and mattresses and rubbish.

“It was a challenging situation. We witnessed them smoking marijuana. Sometimes staff reported it to Street Link twice a week.

“Families and staff report to me that they feel safe now and there are no homeless people camping in Ferguson carpark. We are thrilled.”

The fence was erected after the council, the police and the nursery staff had spent months working together to try to solve the problem.

Councillor Ahsan Khan, cabinet member for community safety, who was instrumental in bringing the situation to a close, said he is “pleased” that children no longer have to witness drug abuse on the school run.

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He said: “Residents and parents should not have to witness drug abuse while taking their children to nursery.

“That is why as soon as I was made aware of this issue I asked our anti-social behaviour and neighbourhoods teams to investigate.

“They worked with our with our partner agencies, to support the homeless people living at the site and offered them the support that they needed.

“They then took action to prevent the drug abuse taking place in the neighbouring car park and erected a fence around the council land in early September which prevents users from accessing the area.”