PICNICKING protesters have made their feelings known about plans for an Olympic police base at a beauty spot.

Hundreds of people descended on Wanstead Flats, armed with food and picnic blankets for a sit-in protest against the Metropolitan Police's scheme for the area.

Under its plans, a briefing and deployment centre is set to be built on the Flats, for 90 days in 2012 to monitor the Olympic site in Stratford.

Beate Hohmann of Save Wanstead Flats, which organised the day, said:“It went fantastically well. About 350 people attended from the age of three months to people in their 80s and 90s. A lot of people stayed for the picnic, but we also had people coming and going throughout the afternoon.

“We had children making posters and a great big group of cyclists came along. Most of all we had a lot of local residents who hadn't heard of the plans until they saw the flyers for the event. That was fantastic. The campaign is gaining momentum.”

Chairman of Friends of Wanstead Parklands Alan Cornish was one of the people who attended the protest.

He said: “A lot of people turned up and learned a lot from each other. It was a meeting of minds and also the Superintendent of Epping Forest Paul Thomson very kindly turned up for a barracking.

“Unfortunately the police, who are going to make the application, didn't show up. I don't suppose that's surprising.

“Obviously it's causing very great concern. The principal point of concern is the precedent this makes. The Olympic village isn't going to vanish in 2012 on September 30. It will still be there and serve many world class events. The police will say they need to police the Olympic village and will want to continue using the site. They'll come back over and over again.

“One of the things we talked about on the day was the 90 day guarantee, and I know people have come to the conclusion it's insufficient. What's wrong with putting in a condition saying there will be penalty charges of, say, £10,000 a day for every day over the 90? At the moment the 90 day guarantee is worthless.”

The next meeting of Save Wanstead Flats will take place on Wednesday, October 6, at 7pm at Durning Hall, in Earlham Grove, Forest Gate. Representatives from the Metropolitan Police and City of London have been invited.

Residents have until September 26 to make their views known to the Metropolitan Police.

To find out more about the plans, visit wanstead-mbdc.co.uk.