The 'Hackney heroine" who shouted down yobs as they rioted in her neighbourhood has hit out at the "white hipsters" she says are driving gentrification in east London.
Grandmother Pauline Pearce, who became an internet sensation after facing down a group of black youths during the London riots, bemoaned the rise of "beards and bobble hats" in Hackney.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, she said the gentrification of places such as Kingsland Road and Mare Street has "brought unrest of a different sort" to areas that were affected by looting an vandalism in 2011.
"There are a lot of issues with the social cleansing that is becoming increasingly evident around here," she wrote.
"Now, if you walk along Kingsland Road on weekend nights, there will be several dozen people standing outside the retro bars and clubs, and, I’m sorry to say, they are all white. It’s impossible not to notice. If the same number of black people congregated on a street, they would be told to move on."
Ms Pearce, who has previously spoken of her dream of opening a community centre in east London, said more must be done to help those who are not part of "hipster Hackney".
She revealed that she sometimes wished she had "kept my mouth shut" and continued to walk home without stopping.
"When I look at my community now, I still don’t see anybody speaking up," she added.
"London belongs to all of us. Not just those who can afford to pay £5 for a cappuccino."
