A green in Brockley Rise is attracting fly-tipping, drug dealers and is a safety concern after the landowner put up an unlawful fence, according to a worried resident.

Investors Alliance put a fence on the front part of the green without planning permission in January, and has submitted plans for a seven-flat development on the site.

Lewisham Council served Investors Alliance with an enforcement notice demanding the fence be taken down, but the company has appealed this.

Concerned local Sean Ryan from the Save Duncombe Hill Green campaign said he saw three “drug deals” in the space of half an hour in the walkway by the fence.

“The one bench [in the walkway] is being used by drug dealers, using it as a meeting point to dish out drugs,” he said.

“We watched three drug deals in half an hour.”

The site was also attracting fly-tippers with a mattress, bags of rubbish, litter and building materials left at the green, Mr Ryan said.

“It’s created a rubbish tip.

“Somebody has been sleeping rough there. Builders, when they put the fence up, left all that crap in the corner,” he added.

He said other concerns included fears to use the walkway through the green.

The gate on the fence has also come down in the wind recently, with Mr Ryan concerned it would fall down again.

“The gate itself isn’t secure,” he said.

“The gate is secured by one screw at the top.

“People’s safety has gone out the window,” he added.

Locals had shared their concerns with councillors recently, he said.

Mr Ryan said the appeal of the enforcement notice meant the fence would be up for around another nine months.

“It sprung up out of nowhere and now we have got to live with it for nine months and there is nothing we can do,” he said.

“There was an older woman who mentioned the fact that because it’s not lit any more it’s created a dark alleyway. People are scared to walk through there at night.”

A spokesperson from Investors Alliance said a resident had broken the lock on the fence, allowing the site to be used to fly tipping, but that has now been fixed.

He also said: “We signposted the site that anyone who fly-tips or causes damage to the site will be prosecuted.”