Campaigners are calling for a halt to “mega-events” that draw in crowds of more than 10,000 people to the borough’s largest park.

Residents groups say Trent Park, in Cockfosters, is being damaged by large-scale festivals held there each summer and are calling for them to be moved to a more suitable venue.

This year, the park’s Grade II-listed gates were damaged by an articulated lorry servicing one of the festivals, while vehicles also churned up the park’s surface.

Colin Bull, chairman of Cockfosters Local Area Residents Association, and Peter Gibbs, chairman of the Friends of Trent Country Park, want Enfield Council to change its events policy to restrict these types of event.

They say they welcome smaller-scale events such as community festivals and charity park-runs.

But they claim Trent Park is not the right venue for events that attract more than 10,000 people at a time – including the 51st State Festival and the Elrow Town festival.

The groups say part of the park regularly used by families is effectively off-limits for most of the summer holidays while the event organisers set up festival equipment and dismantle it.

Enfield Independent: Damage to one of the pillars at the grade II-listed gatewayDamage to one of the pillars at the grade II-listed gateway

And they claim many people living near the park are afraid to leave their homes due to the threat of crime and anti-social behaviour caused by some of the festival-goers.

More than 17,000 people were allowed to attend this year’s 51st State Festival in Trent Park.

The house music festival was previously limited to under 10,000 people – but over the years its maximum crowd size has been increased by the council’s licensing sub-committee.

Meanwhile, the Elrow Town festival was allowed to attract crowds of up to 25,000 people.

Mr Bull said: “This park is not the place for these types of event. We want the park used for recreation and family events.

“All the articulated lorries come through the gate, which is Grade II-listed. As a result, they have damaged it. It is causing chaos.

“Most residents are up in arms. There are a lot of residents who abhor what is going on.”

Mr Bull pointed out that the park is not just a valuable amenity for local people but is also used by people across north London.

He added that the low-level crime that goes on in the area during the events is often not tackled by the Metropolitan Police due to a lack of resources.

Mr Gibbs said: “These mega-events all rely on contractors, and they use 40-ton trucks. They swung round and smashed the gateway.

“We welcome events up to 10,000 people. They do not cause a massive amount of damage to the green and features of the park. But the council will not limit themselves to 10,000.

“These events can go elsewhere. We have identified a site at Meridian water, which is much closer to the target audience.”

Enfield Independent: Damage to the surface of the parkDamage to the surface of the park

Mr Gibbs said more people would be able to attend the events next year, meaning up to 85,000 people would visit the park over four days.

Both Mr Bull and Mr Gibbs questioned whether the events represented value-for-money for the council, given the damage and disruption they had caused.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “We are due to review our event strategy for 2017-2022 in the coming months.

“Residents and park users will be involved in that review and their feedback will be considered when the new strategy is developed.

“With regards to Elrow, we have signed a three-year agreement with the organisers for the event to be held at Trent Park until 2021.

“These events generate income which goes toward sustaining the parks service. We also charge organisers an environmental impact fee and the money from this is reinvested into park improvements.

“We will be meeting English Heritage to discuss repairing the gates. The council will be charging the event organisers for damage caused.”

A spokesperson for LWE, which organises the Elrow festival, claimed there was “huge local support” for the event.

They added: “After the event, both ourselves and the local authorities recognised there was room for improvement, but all agreed that there were no insurmountable issues and were confident that going forward anything that has been flagged up could be rectified.

“We are looking forward to 2020 and will be engaging with the residents in the near future to open a dialogue and do our very best to allay any concerns.”

The Metropolitan Police and the organisers of 51st State were also approached for comment.