‘My kids won’t be able to use it all summer’: Residents’ outrage after Zippos Circus ‘destroys’ common

Residents have hit out at a circus for damaging a common which could “take months to fully recover”.

Zippos Circus, which holds events in parks all over the capital, had a four-day show scheduled on Wandsworth Common to begin yesterday.

But it has been accused of churning up the ground of the common before the show had even started, in the process of setting the circus up on Monday.

Sophie Spencer, 35, who lives next to the common, said: “The common had been waterlogged and they showed complete disregard.

“You would imagine some sort of assessment but they’ve ruined the common – some of the tracks are as deep as my foot and I can see lorries stuck in the ground.”

Mrs Spencer fears the common will be out of use for summer due to the damage.

She said: “It’s such a shame. We have three young children between four and eight years old. None of us around here have big gardens and that common is a lifesaver.

“We go every afternoon with the children and now we can’t use it for the summer.”

Martin Burton, founder of Zippos Circus, said the company had worked closely with the council during the set-up, and any damage would be repaired as soon as possible.

Mr Burton also noted that Zippos had been given planning permission from the local authority to hold the event on the common.

But residents have said they are concerned that the damage will be more permanent.

Dominic Quennell, 67, of Bell Vue Road, said: “I was walking my dog at around 10.30pm on Monday night and I could see a tractor trying to pull one of the trucks up the common.

“It’s upsetting because the council and people in the area who take care of the common have gone to huge lengths to improve its ecology recently.

“A lot of the wild flowers and grass has been completely torn up. It’s not surface level damage, it’s a foot deep.”

Mr Quennell said when the council had previously resown the grass, the area has been cordoned off to allow it to grow.

He said: “It looks like they are going to have to cordon off the most used part of the common, making it inaccessible to residents.”

This comes a year after Zippos circus had an event at Streatham Common cancelled by Lambeth council due to damage caused.

Following the cancellation in April 2023, the local authority said it had also banned Zippos Circus from performing at Streatham Common and revoked its permit.

A spokesman for Wandsworth council said: “We are carrying out an urgent review of this event and the impact it’s had on the common.

“As part of the event agreement the circus operators are required to undertake a series of works to restore the common to its pre-event condition.

“All the costs associated with these remedial works will be met by them. “

Pictured top: Deep tyre marks across the common the morning after Zippos Circus was set up (Picture: Sophie Spencer)