Members of the opposition have called in a decision to leave park gates open 24 hours a day.

The decision made earlier this month by Enfield Borough Council’s cabinet will be put before the overview and scrutiny panel this evening.

Park gates will not be locked to pedestrians for a year in a trial period, which has infuriated park group members.

Peter Gibbs, head of the Enfield Parks consortium, lambasted the policy and warned it could lead to more crime.

He told the Enfield Independent: “This is leaving the door wide open for people to abuse our parks without any protection.”

A council report says ceasing to lock parks at night would provide an annual additional saving of about £26,000.

The overview and scrutiny panel will be given three options at the meeting in the Civic Centre, in Silver Street, Enfield.

They can either refer the decision back to the Cabinet member for reconsideration setting out in writing the nature of its concerns. The Cabinet member then has 14 working days in which to reconsider the decision.

They can also refer the matter to full Council or dismiss the call-in by members of the Conservative party.

Councillor Joanne Laban, who is one of the councillors to call-in the decision, told the newspaper earlier this month that: "This decision is just an open invitation for anti-social behaviour to go on in parks throughout the night.

“The decision will affect those who live near parks the most as they will have to put up with people potentially being in the park at night.”

Cllr Bond stated that he understood the concerns of friends groups but is “confident” that the scheme will have very little impact on crime levels.