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This was in the Evening Standard yesterdayLONDON: The developer behind the vast White City shopping centre has been caught up in a race row.Westfield has been accused of excluding images of black or Asian people on advertising hoardings around the46 -acre site, even though it is in an ethnically diverse area.The10 ft hoardings in Wood Lane show a series of images of white models wearing designer clothes.The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) said the Australian company was in danger of creating “a White City both in name and nature” at the site it is developing in partnership with London Underground (LU).The £1.6bn centre is due to open in time for Christmas next year with Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Waitrose and Next as “anchor” tenants as well as 265 smaller shops.A CRE spokeswoman said: “This development ought to be for everyone in the community yet these hoardings tell a different story. They perhaps portray Westfield’s ideal consumer.This does nothing to improve community relations and, with nearly half London’s population being from an ethnic minority community, it is also commercial suicide.“The chief executive of Westfield needs to have serious words with his marketing department and maybe LU ought to consider whether Westfield is the sort of company it wants to be in partnership with.”Hammersmith & Fulham Liberal Democrats have written to the company to protest.Spokesman Jon Burden said: “Using only white models for advertising a development in an area with a large number of non-white residents sends out the wrong message.”Westfield said it was considering the Lib-Dems’ letter “very carefully”.A spokesman said: “We are an equal opportunities employer and will be creating7 , 000jobs in the area.”An LU spokesman said: “Westfield put up these images without our permission. They do not reflect our customers, staff or the local community. We asked the company to take down the ones around our new Wood Lane station. We are trying to persuade it to take the other ones down.” – London Evening Standard

Emma Midgley ● 6541d