Razor wire has been put up at the site of the planned new Chinese super embassy in London after a security incident.
A small group of youths are understood to have clambered over a gate, around ten feet high, to access a slip road to the site of the new diplomatic complex.
They are believed to have been confronted by a security guard as objects were hurled over the gate by other youngsters.
Around 20 youths in total were involved in the incident.
In response razor wire has been put up around the area.
But the wire has fuelled concerns of local residents over the scale of security measures that will be built for the new embassy.
“That’s an excessive reaction. They have got CCTV and security guards,” said Mark Nygate, treasurer for the Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association.
“It adds into our fears about what it will be like once the embassy is alive and active and being run by an authoritarian regime with no controls from UK law because they are protected by the Vienna Convention.”
The super embassy plans were given approval by Communities Secretary Steve Reed in January despite fears that it could be used as a major espionage hub, including spying on the City by accessing vast flows of information through underground cables.
MI5 director general Sir Ken McCallum and GCHQ's director Anne Keast-Butler warned that national security risks linked to China's new London embassy could not be wholly eliminated.
Dissidents fear that the new embassy will be used by Beijing for repression.
Planning documents submitted to Tower Hamlets council showed a string of rooms, including in the basement area, had been marked "redacted for security reasons".
Ministers insist that the planning process was properly followed in approving the diplomatic development.
But local residents are challenging the Government’s decision to give the green light to the huge new embassy complex, which at 20,000 square metres, would be the biggest in Europe.
In an unprecedented situation, some 200 residents live on the embassy site, next to the Tower of London.
Beijing bought the site at Royal Mint Court in 2018 for £225 million.
The purchase meant that the People’s Republic of China became the freeholder of St Mary Graces Court on the estate, where local residents in around 100 flats.
The Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association has been given approval to take its case, against the Government approving the new embassy, to the High Court in mid July on four grounds.
They are:
* Planning conditions imposed as part of approving the development are worthless as China does not have to abide by then due to the Vienna Convention protection of diplomatic premises.
* Two documents, one on security and the second on a blast assessment if there was a terror attack, were not publicly disclosed.
* The Communities Secretary did not see the unredacted plans for the new embassy.
* The human rights of local residents, including on freedom of expression, of assembly and to enjoy possessions, risk being infringed.
Ricardo Gama, partner at law firm Leigh Day, said: “Our clients have raised serious and legitimate concerns about the safety and transparency of the decision to grant planning permission for a new Chinese Embassy, which will be largest in Europe.
“When a development of this scale is placed directly alongside people’s homes, it is essential that the Government demonstrates it has fully considered the risks and followed a fair and open process.
“Instead, our clients say key information was withheld, critical safety issues were left unresolved, and residents were given no meaningful opportunity to understand or challenge what was being decided.
“We are asking the Court to ensure that proper scrutiny takes place before any further steps are taken.”
The Government says that “all material considerations” were taken into account when the Communities Secretary granted planning permission and listed building consent for the new embassy development.
The Chinese Embassy in London has been contacted for comment.
