Rowdy campaigners were barred from a council meeting as the new Mayor of Barnet was sworn in.

Police were called to Hendon Town Hall, in The Burroughs, last night as protestors from the Sweets Way Resists group tried to storm the chamber.

Councillor Mark Shooter took over as the first citizen of the borough at his mayor making last night, a post he took over from Cllr Hugh Rayner.

Tenants living in Sweets Way, Whetstone, were served with eviction notices two months ago and say they were forced to move into temporary accommodation miles from their families.

They handed a petition into council leader Richard Cornelius before last night’s annual council meeting.

But when they tried to storm the council building, they had to be barricaded by security guards and police officers and were not allowed in.

In a statement, Barnet Borough Council said: “The leader of the council received a petition from the campaigners at 6.50pm ahead of yesterday’s annual council meeting. After he received the petition some protestors tried to storm the council building and were prevented from entering by security guards and police.

“Council is a public meeting and space had been provided in the gallery and an overflow room had been set up for members of the public to watch proceedings.

“However on the advice of the police and council officers a decision was taken at 7.35pm not to let anyone else into the building to protect the safety of the public and staff. Protestors were told of this decision and police moved in to protect the main door to the town hall.”

New mayor Cllr Shooter has represented Hendon since he was elected onto Barnet Council in 2010 and is currently the chairman of the pension fund committee.

He grew up in Edgware before moving to Hendon, where he has lived for the last 30 years. After graduating in actuarial sciences he had a career in the City as an actuary, before becoming a trader on the LIFFEE exchange, and then a hedge fund manager.

During his mayoral year Councillor Shooter has chosen to support Chai Cancer Care in Hendon.

He said: “This is a tremendous honour and I am very much looking forward to meeting lots of Barnet residents, and I do hope that I will be able to encourage and inspire people to get involved in community matters.

“Barnet is one of the largest and most successful boroughs in London, and as Mayor I hope to make us proud of our successes.”