A sociology lecturer has delved into life on the Kingsynmpton estate, the racial make up of Kingston and TV show The Good Life as part of a new book about suburbia.

Kingston University’s Rupa Huq’s book, On The Edge, says that those who fondly imagine the suburbs as the preserve of maiden aunts on bicycles, archetypal Englishness –or places of stifling conformism are wide of the mark.

She said: "I think suburbs are much more complicated and dynamic than we give them credit for."

In the book she also quotes an un-named council director on isolation on the Kingsynmpton as well as a Facebook site called ‘Just a picturesque housing estate on the top of Kingston Hill or was it a blot on the landscape”.