Our neighbourhood is ruined by ‘hipsters’ who make traffic a nightmare – they think they’re helping but they’re NOT

RESIDENTS of a trendy London neighbourhood say it is being ruined by "hipsters" making traffic a nightmare.

Locals of Hackney, North London, slammed new Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) schemes as "stupid".

LTNs are environmental programmes that have found favour with local councils in recent years.

They work by shutting off access for motor vehicles to certain areas, usually residential streets, with the intention of encouraging more cycling, walking and public transport use and keeping traffic on main roads.

This is usually done by a camera-monitored gate that allows certain vehicles (like buses or ambulances) through, but issues fines to other drivers.

In most cases, the restrictions operate between particular times, but some roads have been completely closed to traffic, forcing motorists to go out of their way to reach their destinations.

Some people in Hackney claim that they have had up to 40 minutes added to journeys as they struggle to find alternative routes.

One local told : "You get these hipsters saying how lovely it is, but when they can't get an Uber one night or can't get their Amazon delivery they're not going to be happy."

Meanwhile, Penny Brown, 58, said: "We don't want it...It doesn't make any sense.

"People are angry - they break the camera every day.

"They asked us if we wanted it and we said we didn't. It's stupid."

She fumed that anyone who wants to live in the quiet setting of a country village should move to one, rather than trying to change Hackney at everyone's expense.

Meanwhile, her niece claimed that the scheme would actually make pollution worse by clogging up main roads with traffic and delaying journeys.

She said: "You are going to make more pollution by making everyone drive on the other roads.

"What used to take 20 minutes now takes more than an hour. How are they making it better?"

And local shop worker Sankar Gouri claimed that the LTNs have hurt the business, as the area is less busy than it used to be, while fellow resident Suzanne Hirst slammed them as a "money-making scheme".

She compared LTN's to an inverse Robin Hood, saying they take money from the poor to benefit the rich as motorists are slapped with fines amid a cost of living crisis.

Councillor Mete Coban of Hackney Council said: "We have extensively consulted with over 20,000 people over our LTN schemes, including a local election in May 2022, where the public decisively backed LTN-supporting candidates.

"Our direction is clear, as set out in our Low Traffic plan earlier this year, and we intend to deliver cleaner air for the people of Hackney."