Protesting students who targeted a Winston Churchill-themed cafe have inadvertently helped it become one of London's top-rated eateries.

Last week a group of nine demonstrators stormed the Blighty UK cafe in Finsbury Park, north London, urging customers to boycott it for 'colonialism' and chanting 'Churchill was racist'.

Their stunt has now backfired after five star reviews from supporters of cafe propelled it into the top 20 out of 1,180 cafes in the capital on TripAdvisor.

Some of the glowing reviews are from diners claiming to be in the cafe when it was stormed last Saturday, and are more than making up for several scathing reviews left online after the protest.

Protest ringleader Halimo Hussein, a politics undergraduate at the School of African Studies, University of London, wrote: 'Bland breakfasts and awful watery tasting coffee, toilets filthy.'

Last week a group of nine demonstrators stormed the Blighty UK cafe in Finsbury Park, north London, urging customers to boycott it for 'colonialism' and chanting 'Churchill was racist'

Now the protest has inadvertently helped the Winston Churchill-themed cafe, with hundreds of people leaving positive reviews. It is now ranked in the top 20 cafes in London

After an onslaught of negative reviews, the cafe plunged down into the 300s on the travel review site but has since shot up to number 17, and is still racing up the rankings.

One Londoner, Mary H, wrote about how the snowflakes spoilt her visit to the 'patriotic cafe'.

She said: 'Excellent service and menu. Pity the lefty young lazy thick of the country had to spoil my visit with their pointless intrusion.

'They should take in their education we paid for and see why they have freedom of speech instead of being under German rule. Thank you Mr Churchill and Blighty Cafe UK.'

Several reviewers have praised the cafe for its food which is 'the stuff the empires are built on'. It is now ranked 17 out of 1,180 cafes

'Dom C' wrote in his review: 'Lovely place, great food and coffee - standing for someone worth celebrating as part of our historical fabric.

'Churchill was an incredibly complex, contradictory and larger-than-life human being and he wrestled with contradictions during his lifetime, but respect for his achievements in being a pinnacle figure in saving the world from fascism should be enough to prevent the sort of disrespectful, arrogant protest that occurred at this cafe recently.

'We should not be judging historical figures through the lens of today's politics, without context and with such disregard for a balanced debate.'

Others have thanked the protesters for bringing the cafe to their attention after deciding to visit because of the media storm.

Ben D, from Rayleigh, Essex, said: 'Thanks to the snow flakes storming this cafe and giving it free advertising I thought I had to go there and see what all the fuss was about.

Owner Chris Evans said: 'It certainly can't do us any harm and makes up for some of the deliberately dodgy ones the snowflakes were leaving for us'

'I'm so pleased I did. The Winston breakfast is fantastic. Served with an English breakfast tea. Sorry if I offended anyone using the word English!

'I will 100 per cent be back to this great Commonwealth themed Blighty Cafe. Long live the English "Winston" breakfast.'

Owner Chris Evans, 47, said that business has been booming since the demo and that he is 'delighted' by the reviews.

He said: 'We are selling lots of delicious Winston breakfasts and TripAdvisor has exploded with five star reviews.

'I am not sure that all the reviewers writing 'Lefties do one' have actually visited the cafe but we will take all their kind reviews.

'It certainly can't do us any harm and makes up for some of the deliberately dodgy ones the snowflakes were leaving for us.

'It would be great and ironic after the protest if we ended up at number one.'