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"Class warfare" has broken out in Brixton over a new branch of Foxtons opening in the area.

The estate agent opened on Brixton Road last month, causing some residents to complain of “gentrification”.

But now protests have taken a more extreme turn after abusive graffiti started appearing on the shop.

Last week employees were shocked to find the words “yuppies out!” painted in capital letters across the floor-to-ceiling window.

It comes after someone scrawled “yuck” across the glass the week before.

Residents today appeared to be divided on the issue with some saying Foxtons’s arrival is good for the area while others complain that established residents are being priced out.

It comes amid an on-going debate over the gentrification of Brixton, which has seen house prices and rental values soar as Brixton Village and other improvements have led to a new wave of people being attracted to the area.

In Brixton Market, Nour Cash and Carry recently won a long fought battle against market bosses to stay open after they were told their rent was set to rise by 22 per cent.

Writing under the name of “Fx”, one resident wrote on Brixton Blog: “It is a sad sight to walk into the indoor market in Brixton and find only young white capitalists laughing at the miseries of lifelong Brixtonians!...The graffiti is only a warning that Brixton won’t take it laying down.

“Brixtonians have a long history of defending their rights and culture and despite the shiny few coins they might get thrown at their feet by new developments and yuppie bars coming in, they won’t be fooled into giving up their borough for their history and culture to disappear!”

However, others branded the graffiti pointless, saying that nothing would stop the estate agency doing business there.

One resident, Will, wrote: “Brixton has considerably bigger problems than the opening of an estate agency – I will cite the burglary/ransacking and two muggings that I and my partner have suffered in the two years that he has lived there as a readily available example.

“Whichever way you look at it, daubing paint on the window of a shop is just pointless vandalism. Furthermore, it won’t have the desired effect, unless the desired effect is to give passers by a bit of a giggle, in which case it’s a roaring success.”

Foxtons declined to comment.