Fake posters that appears to show Hackney Council calling an area a ‘crack and heroin’ zone have cropped up in the borough.
The posters, which feature both Hackney Council and Metropolitan Police logos, claim “the sale and use of crack and heroin is permitted in this area”.
It has been spotted at the corner of Kingsland Road near Haggerston station, and there could be more in other parts of Hackney.
Similar posters were first seen in Camden Town in July, with some passers by outraged as they were misled into thinking Camden Council was involved in posters that appeared to promote illegal drug use.
Just like its appearance in Camden, the poster has no association with any London local authorities and a QR code at thew bottom leads to a page promoting ‘Pattern Up’, described as a youth movement group raising awareness of “issues facing our society”.
The group told the Ham&High it is a Brighton-based collective of artists who "raise awareness of the widespread criminal exploitation of local children and vulnerable youth".
Since the Camden poster made headlines, similar displays with branding of other local authorities have appeared in Dublin and Cambridge.
The QR code also promotes an event called ‘Ad-iction’ which took place at Camden Open Air Gallery on August 11.
The website reads: “Ad-iction focuses on the problem society is facing in regard to drugs and consumption.
“Through the use of signage, branding, events and guerrilla marketing, we want to start a conversation.”
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: "These are clearly not council posters and we will remove any that we see."
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