She was known as the ‘Hackney Heroine’ – a brave, black woman who confronted looters in her neighbourhood during the London Riots of 2011. But now Pauline Pearce may be known as the London Loony after a Telegraph comment piece in which she claims that the gentrification of her area by “white hipsters” may cause further unrest.

Pearce, who was a Liberal Democrat candidate in May’s local elections, and who was roundly defeated by her Labour opponents, has claimed that “white hipsters” are becoming a problem in Hackney, in what would be seen as a scathing racist diatribe if aimed at black youths.

She writes in today’s Telegraph:

Three years ago, I shouted down young men as they burnt cars on the streets of Hackney, where I live. Now they come in beards and bobble hats instead. Places such as Kingsland Road and Mare Street have become the trendiest places to be, but that has bought unrest of a different sort. The people who live here are not happy. … You go into a coffee shop and it is £5 for a cappuccino. I could go into the supermarket and buy the milk, sugar and coffee and have a hundred cups for that. 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.

Her contention is that as the area around her improves, more white people are moving in, and therefore causing resentment in Hackney. By her logic, London should be divided and ghettoised, and Hackney Council should spend government money with a view to this. She claims the government should “Build a massive community centre instead to integrate all the estates… London belongs to all of us. Not just those who can afford to pay £5 for a cappuccino.”

Telegraph commenters haven’t received the article well, with one stating, “you’re a racist bigot” and another, “This is a deeply racist article from a bigoted idiot. I demand an apology from the telegraph right now.”

One reader demanded, “Stop deleting the Pro-White comments, Telegraph mods.”