Is affluent suburb rich pickings on Thames?

SHAKEN locals fear their London neighbourhood is becoming more dangerous after thieves smashed into a jewellers and looted it while the town was full of shoppers.

- BY ADAM TOMS PHOTOGRAPHS ADAM GERRARD

The riverside borough of Richmond has long attracted famous residents, from Richard E Grant and Amanda Holden to Sir David Attenborough and Sir Mick Jagger.

But Saturday morning’s heist, in which two men were filmed shattering Gregory & Co’s window with a sledgehammer, has unnerved many people in the affluent area of South West London. The jewellers is in a pedestrianised lane known to fans of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso, because football boss Ted, played by Jason Sudeikis, lives there.

The cobbled street hosts the Official Ted Lasso store and Visit Richmond publicises the lane on a Ted Lasso walk for tourists.

Lorenzo Ali, 48, who took over a cobblers on the passageway 14 years ago, said the increase in visitors is a double-edged sword. He explained: “I think the filming brings a whole lot of people in - and people see stuff. All sorts of people come through. You didn’t used to see them around here five or six years ago. That’s what the problem is. It’s a shame.

“I hope it doesn’t happen again. I have a wife and two daughters. You don’t know these folks. That's why it stresses me out.”

Staff inside the raided jewellers tried to grab back valuables before the thieves could snatch them but the crooks filled a bag through the window then fled towards Richmond Green.

Ghanaian Lorenzo heard bangs but thought it was building work. He revealed: “I feel very guilty, because I should have done something, but I didn’t do anything.

“The dude was running and he was fat. That has playing in my mind every night when I put myself to bed.”