Welcome to the seaside town dubbed Hackney-on-Sea where locals say Londoners ARE welcome - as they keep business booming.

Deal in Kent, a former fishing, mining and garrison town, has become a hotspot for DFLs - people moving 'Down from London'.

But unlike other towns where city slickers are shunned, residents feel like the newcomers have had a positive impact on their area - saying it would be "totally dead" without them. "

Coco Walsh, who works at the Yellow Giraffe café, says Londoners are to thank for keeping the town busy - especially in comparison to its neighbour along the coast.

She said: "Deal has changed because of them, such as with the diversity. Without them, this town would be totally dead. I know the locals don't always like them but they always say how terrible Dover is."

"Without the Londoners, Deal would be as bad as Dover. They have kept up Deal's businesses, especially its public houses and its live music."

"Without all the Londoners and the holidaymakers, that would go because they're the people that spend the money."

David Beamish is originally from east London and has settled as a Deal resident for four years.

He said: "I welcome the DFLs, especially at the weekends. "

"Their presence reverberates around the town, and it makes it a little bit more upmarket. It livens up the town, as far as I can see."

Mr Beamish had lived in Dagenham and Romford but says he now prefers his new home on the coast.

He added: "I enjoy having a cup of coffee in town and going to the beach in the summer and the grandkids come down."

Local man Andrew, who asked not to give his surname, says he does not think Deal is similar to London - but that he supports Londoners coming.

He said: "I think this town is definitely split about DFLs."

"Some people like them and others despise them."

"Personally I think they are good for this town because they have raised it up, brought money in and made it more sophisticated and classy."

"You used to have a lot of greasy spoon cafés in the town and you'd be guaranteed a fight in the town centre."

However, not everyone is convinced of the benefits of Londoners coming to town.

Alan Ross, from Tankerton, who worked in Deal cafés and shops for many years and still regularly visits, said: "I've noticed over the last five years the London brigade have come down, though not so much in this neck of the wood as in other seaside towns."

"I don't mind them visiting here but not moving here."

"I think they push up house prices and the locals are pushed out. And they think this is London-on-Sea but we are not a London borough."

Figures from Rightmove say properties in Deal cost an average of £339,535 over the last year, compared to £255,032 in neighbouring town Dover- perhaps suggesting Londoners have boosted prices.

A recent article from The Financial Times looking at hotspots for DFL'S is what dubbed the area of Deal as "Hackney-on-sea."

One of Deal's newer arrivals, Ruth Leigh, daughter of London-based chef Rowley Leigh, had told the paper: "Fifteen years ago, there wasn't a deli with great coffee or a nice cocktail bar. Now it's a tiny bit Hackney-on-Sea, but with its own identity."

Hackney was once known for high levels of crime and deprivation - but parts have since been gentrified and today it is described by the Michelin Guide as "London's Hipster Paradise"."

Mick Morgan, who lives in Essex, and is originally from Dagenham, was visiting Deal last week.

He has worked in Hackney and describes it as a "cosmopolitan, lively, energetic place with lots of going on and diverse communities"."

While there are some "rough estates","

he says other parts such as Dalston have become gentrified.