Are rampaging influencers ruining life for the rest of us?

In some areas, they're besieging people's homes from dusk till dawn

- Claudia Cockerell

Influencers, already everywhere in London anyway, are growing more brazen by the day. What was once a small coterie who haunted restaurants like Sexy Fish in Mayfair has grown into a mass of aspiring social media messiahs willing to go to great lengths for the perfect snap. They pose on people's doorsteps, disturb restaurant diners and have a penchant for filming content in busy Tube stations, leaving the rest of us squinting in the glare of their ring lights.

Notting Hill is famous for its rows of rainbow coloured houses. For passers-by, they're a joy to behold. For residents, they've become a nightmare to live in. "I'm being driven literally mad," says Tara, whose once quiet, pastel-hued street has become a hotbed of activity. Her house is baby pink and a favourite backdrop for influencer's photo shoots. "It can be pouring with rain, it can be snowing, it can be a wind tunnel, and they're still coming. They'll take their coats off in the middle of the rain and stand on my steps, taking turns to photograph each other," she says.

Tara's street is named in a number of TikTok videos about "where to find colourful houses" in Notting Hill, which has led to the influx of influencers. “Last year it was bad, and this year so far it's been impossible," she says. Although the street is near the bustling Portobello Market, it used to be "incredibly peaceful" and had very low footfall.

It's not just that the influencers take pictures of each other. Tara is an artist and spends all day weaving tapestries in her living room.

Anyone who looks through the window can see her surrounded by tendrils of wire and thread.

Many cannot resist taking a snap of the artist at work, no doubt thinking it will be a perfect, authentic snapshot for their Instagram grid.