Ms Buck said: “There’s been an endemic problem here for about 20 years. It used to be a drugs supermarket. I came here last year and watched people openly dealing drugs in the middle of the afternoon.
“The film Kidulthood was filmed here, and it gets mentioned in rap tunes – that was the kind of reputation it had.
“What is good to see is that with the clean up hasn’t been a replication of the problem elsewhere. The real issue is the partnership between the police and the residents associations and the businesses.
“It doesn’t happen in very many places but its happened here. People have gone the extra mile to make this work.”
Bridie Sheehan, who lives by the junction said: “I walk here every morning to and from work in Little Venice and the change has been amazing.
“At 6.30-7am it used to be crawling with prostitutes and drunks. It was a nightmare, it was very intimidating.
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