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This once down-market area of London has been invaded by a bevy of A-list stars and it-girls eager to make it a new social heartland that rivals Primrose Hill... but this is why locals are furious: RONAN O'REILLY

This once down-market industrial hub may seem an odd choice for A-listers more accustomed to the glitz and glamour of Beverly Hills.

Also there was Hollywood actor Paul Mescal, who has spoken about his time living in the borough after his breakout role in the TV drama Normal People in 2020, and whom starry-eyed fans regularly claimed to see jogging topless around Victoria Park or along the nearby canal. Another drinking den to get an enthusiastic thumbs-up was cocktail bar Night Tales, where techno music is on the sound system and regulars include ‘royal raver Princess Laetitia Maria of Belgium’. Even the presence of a Gail’s coffee shop – which has become something of a symbol for gentrification – and the impressive St Augustine’s Tower, which dates back to the 16th century and is represented in the borough’s coat of arms, fail to cheer things up.

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