Shop sells Margate and Brighton seaside to Londoners

Brighton was one of the seaside resorts featured at the pop-up shop

Londoners have been encouraged to visit seaside resorts such as Margate and Brighton at a pop-up shop in the city this summer.

Thanet council said Margate had been featured alongside other towns such as Torquay, Brighton and Southend.

The shop offered art, film, and a "chill-out" space" to encourage "stressed-out" Londoners to rediscover the coast, the council said.

Margate developments such as the new Turner gallery were also featured.

'Exciting future'

Councillor Roger Latchford, cabinet regeneration spokesman, said: "Londoners have flocked to Margate over the years and the town certainly has a special place in many people's memories.

"Although it's a nostalgic place to visit, it also has an exciting future ahead of it, with the opening of Turner Contemporary and plans for Dreamland, and we want to make Londoners aware of that."

The shop is part of a five-year strategy run by an organisation called Seasider, which consults on tourism, regeneration and cultural specialists from around the UK.

Seasider director Eddie Bridgman said it was "all about changing perceptions about the British seaside".

The shop at 47 Theobalds Road, in the Holborn area, will remain open until Thursday.

Pop-ups are temporary restaurants, bars, clubs and shops that spring up in unexpected locations to draw in people for a time.