An MP told sixth formers in Tottenham that they should not be afraid of "kicking down a few doors" in order to succeed.

David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, opened the Top Careers Fair at Haringey Sixth Form Centre, in White Hart Lane, on Wednesday, October 2.

During a speech, he told the students how he grew up in Dongola Road, Tottenham, and recalled having to work at a Kentucky Fried Chicken shop to supplement his family’s income.

Mr Lammy said: “I wanted to be a really sexy lawyer, not one in Tottenham High Road.

“I was told by my teacher that I should abandon my legal ambitions because I was not bright enough and that I talked too much in class.”

The Labour MP said he refused to lower his ambitions and told the students he succeeded into a legal career “because I stretched a bit further”.

He said: “There was no way my mum was going to get me these breaks or open these doors.

“I had to kick down a few doors and yes, I had luck.”

Mr Lammy added that what marked him out was that he had been “hungry about what was out there”.

The careers event attracted a host of big-name national and global employers.

These included international banks, government departments, legal practices, Google and the BBC.

It was designed to give the students access to blue-chip companies that they might otherwise assume were beyond their reach.