Dirty Hammer not welcomed in Norfolk

Londoner Paul Foskett his wife Clare, moved to Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk in February.

Foskett told the Fakenham Times that the discrimination he faced when locals realised he was new to Wells, was “no better than racism”.

He said: “I’ve been called a ‘smelly Londoner’, a ‘dirty Hammer’ (in reference to West Ham) ‘and more. It’s unbelievable. I feel trapped in my own home now.”

Mr Foskett said one incident happened when he was in a shop speaking to a woman in the queue.

He said: “She must have realised we were from London and she said there are too many Londoners moving here at the moment and it means local families can’t live here. Another time I said sorry to someone trying to get past because I thought I was in the way, and the lady in front of me said ‘there are too many foreigners here’.

“And we’ve had people blocking our way at the bus stop, stopping us from getting on before anyone else could. There have been so many things like this. Every time we walk into town we seem to have problems. It has just been a nightmare.”

He called on people to be more welcoming. He said Wells was “too close-knit”. “I’ve been told I’ll never be accepted here,” he said.