THE owner of a van used for voluntary work has been asked to stop parking in one of Edinburgh wealthiest streets as it “lowers the tone”.
Bradley Welsh found a passive aggressive note stuck to his van in Drumsheugh Gardens in the upmarket west end of the city.
Bradley, who appeared in the movie T2 Trainspotting and runs free boxing classes for underprivileged kids, posted the note on social media.
The owners of a flat, likely to be worth in the region of £1.4m, told Bradley: “To the driver, please can you stop parking this van outside my new flat as it is lowering the tone of the area please.”
They wrote: “Also advertising trailer. Keep it for ind. Estate, no the Newtown. Thank you.”
The note was signed “Brian and Bill” and ended with an “x”.
The van and trailer, promoting voluntary organisation Edinburgh Helping Hands, are parked near august institutions in Drumsheugh Gardens such as The Committee of Scottish Bankers and The Chartered Banker Institute.
Bradley posted a photograph of the note on his Holyrood Boxing Gym Facebook page, writing: “After six weeks of relentless work, it’s always nice to be reminded that you are doing good…
Bradley, whose football casual past resulted in him serving jail time and who used boxing to transform his life, added: “I put up the post to shine a light on what some people are like.
“This is Edinburgh. I think the post resonates with people. There’s an upper class and a working class and the divide is very much there.
“Anyone with a brain can see the difference between rich and poor.
“You would think they would read the side of the side of the trailer, or look up the organisation and see what we do.
“Who would have the audacity to do that?”
Bradley said he gets on well with his neighbours.
“I live about 25 paces away and I’ve lived there for four years so have been there longer than them.
“I was parked in a parking bay legally and the trailer it allowed to be parked too.
“Two weeks ago someone took it upon themselves to take something out of a bin and put it on my van. A toilet holder. It was on my bonnet.
“I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, providing opportunities for kids in the area.”
“I’ve offered to #Help #BRIANandBILL buy a castle with private grounds to keep the peasants out of sight.
“Absolute clowns.”
The post was inundated with messages from furious followers who branded Brian and Bill “snobby b*****ds”.
Juliette Jones wrote: “Brian and Bill being ar**y snobs and also missing the point of advertising (“keep it for the industrial estate”.).”
Another follower, known as Bruce Wayne said: “‘Lowering the tone”….absolute pair of c***s.”
Tristan Price Williams wrote: “Bet they wish they hadn’t done that. W*****s!”
Another social media user, Drewski? said: “What a couple of pretentious t***s.
“They would probably feel more at home relocating to rural EH4.
And user WereBear joked: “Brian’s a c***, but Bill is probably sound, just a bit down trodden after years of Brian.
“The fact he’s been tagged into this I’m sure embarrasses him and lets face it Brian didn’t give a s*** about Bill when it was ‘my new flat’.”
Irvine Welsh himself joined in, joking: “Rumours that I’m Brian are totally unfounded. Irvine Welsh aka Bill.”
Zoopla currently estimate flats on “Brian and Bill’s” street to be worth up to £1,385,000.
Properties on the sought-after street were renovated last year and sold in December.
Edinburgh Helping Hands is an all volunteer based organisation which has teamed up with Social Bite and author Irvine Welsh to “challenge social and economic inequality in Edinburgh”.
The organisation, set up in 2014 by ex-footie casual Bradley Welsh and Jim Slaven, has operated the capital’s biggest food bank.
It also launched the Helping Hands’ Bike Initiative which donated 150 bikes to city schools.
Their free football initiative involved more than 6000 kids, in six communities take part in a 16 week project supported by Hibs and Hearts football players.
Their latest venture has offered children free boxing classes across Edinburgh.
