RESIDENTS in a humble corner of England say they are being priced out by rich newcomers who are ruining their neighbourhood.
Rent has rocketed and food prices soared in Walthamstow, East London, as "trendy" students and poshos with heavy wallets have rolled in.
"Normal people" are now forced to flee as far away as Wales as they watch in horror as property prices lurch by as much as eight percent.
Local Paul O’Leary, 58, a labourer has lived in the area for 35-years "long before it was trendy".
He told MyLondon: "A lot of people I used to work with have moved out, especially if they’ve got a family."
Paul blamed the housing crisis and high levels of imported food for squeezing budgets and said people move away for a better work-life balance.
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Oladan Nalliya, 50, who has lived in London for 23 years, blasted "very, very high" food and property prices and said people have gone as far as "Wales" for a cheaper life.
And he pointed to the "million students coming in" for sending rent soaring meaning "normal people can’t have a room now".
Energy prices were also on his list of excessive costs that leave people "hungry".
He also claimed to have seen a rise in homelessness, with people sleeping outside the local mall.
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One local school worker added that she was forced to move out by high prices.
She said: "I think this generation have to have parents help them out to start on the property ladder. Here, we can’t, I was living with parents before."
She now only comes into the city to do her shopping as the stalls in Walthamstow are cheaper than lots of supermarkets.
The exodus has even seen schools empty of pupils, locals say.
Residents said the rise in food and bills was the same up down the country as the cost of living crisis bites.
But that is little comfort to Athmane Ahmed, 59, owner of the Chef O’veure café for more than 16 years.
He said the challenges faced by Walthamstow natives is an entrenched problem that is here to stay.
Athmane explained: "I believe only in England did you have the rich, the middle class and the poor.
"But that’s all over, now it’s just the rich and poor in England."
Nor does the fact that everyone is being affected help butcher Robert Parsons, who has reportedly seen his electricity bill double and has had to raise prices to cope.
He also slammed the price of parking locally and the fact that the prospect of getting a ticket is putting customers off.
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It comes after residents of one seaside town said that posh out-of-towners are pricing them out and turning the area in "Chelsea-on-Sea".
Others said that their village is being turned into a "ghost town" as posh second home owners snapping up properties mean that locals can't afford to buy.
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