Elephant and Castle shopping centre closes doors for good
The south London complex is due to be demolished and replaced with 1,000 new homes, only 116 of which will be social housing

THE historic Elephant and Castle shopping centre will close its doors for the last time on Thursday, leaving some 40 traders with nowhere to go.
The south London complex, built 55 years ago, is due to be demolished to make way for a massive £4 billion development of almost 1,000 new homes — of which only 116 will be social housing — and a new shopping complex.
It follows a years-long campaign by local traders and activists to halt the development and protect the centre’s unique community of largely Latin-American traders.
More from this author

In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account

On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara