Trainspotting author rails against 'yuppiefied' Leith

The Scotsman: Best-selling author Irvine Welsh has launched a stinging attack on the “yuppiefication” of his native Leith.

The creator of Trainspotting and Porno blasted the regeneration of the city’s waterfront after taking a bus tour around the area.

Welsh, who was born in Leith and spent much of his life there before finding fame with his debut novel, accused developers of providing just a few token “cheap” housing developments to keep local people quiet while building posh flats for “rich incomers”.

The controversial writer, who is due to get married to his American fiancée in Dublin later this month, said Leith was being taken over by “yuppies” in a similar fashion to what is happening in Belfast, Cardiff and Liverpool.

But he admitted he was currently living in a posh flat in Dublin himself, conceding: “It’s difficult to always practise what you preach.” More