Standoff at the Serpentine: Moment angry mother confronts ‘travellers’ as shirtless men ride ponies in Hyde Park lido meant for SWIMMERS
- Police officers were called to the Serpentine lido in Hyde Park, London, last week
- Horses were taken into the water to the shock of families cooling off in the lake
- Footage taken by an onlooker showed a mother shouting at a group of men
This is the shocking moment three men took their ponies for a dip in the Serpentine lido in central London – forcing children to wait at the sidelines.
An angry mother was forced to intervene to demand the men get their animals out of Hyde Park’s central lake.
Police officers were called at 4.36pm on Saturday to reports of ponies in the popular swimming spot.
Footage taken by an onlooker showed a mother squaring up to a group of men as the horses cooled off.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers were called at 4.36pm when sunseekers’ swimming session was abruptly cut short.
Police officers were called to Hyde Park on Saturday to reports of ponies in the popular swimming spot
Footage taken by an onlooker showed a mother squaring up to a group of men as the horses cooled off amid high temperatures
Children could be seen in the footage waiting on the sidelines while the horses enjoyed a quick dip.
Comments underneath a social media post sharing the video suggest the ponies may have been cooled off before racing along the embankment cycle lane.
But one mother wanted the men to get out of the water immediately. She said: ‘I will not go away. I don’t have to shut up, you don’t get to tell me to shut up. Get them out of the water.’
Police revealed no arrests were made, adding: ‘Police were called around 16:36 hrs on Saturday, 5 June to reports of horses in the Serpentine, Hyde Park.
‘Officers attended and advised the horse riders that it was an offence to have animals in the Serpentine. They got out of the water and left the area.’