A petition to save a popular Caribbean takeaway on Bradbury Street has reached almost 5,000 signatures in four days.

The petition was launched following last month's news that All Island Grill takeaway, owned by Levi Scarlett, had been shut down.

The petition, and many people who have signed it, alleges gentrification and "ethnic cleansing" by Hackney Council.

Signatories praised the takeaway as "part of the community" and the "best Caribbean takeaway in London".

However, the council has said All Island Grill was unlawfully converted from a shop in 2016 and has "never had permission for use as a takeaway".

The takeaway has been on Bradbury Street for 16 years.

The petition reads: "We are today starting the campaign to save All Island Grill.

"If it goes then so will other black businesses in the street and the adjoining Gillett Square."

A protest in support of All Island Grill will take place on Friday (February 25) on Bradbury Street in Dalston at 3pm.

The takeaway's owner appealed in October last year but a 2019 enforcement notice was upheld by the planning inspector.

The inspector found that the building's use as a takeaway was "harmful to the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers", due to the impact of noise, from the takeaways extractor fan, and "odour" affecting residents living nearby.

A council spokesperson stated: “The owner has had more than five years to to seek permission to use the building as a takeaway and to install a suitable extraction system, and this option remains available to them."

To sign the petition, visit www.change.org/p/save-all-island-grill-dalston-from-ethnic-cleansing