A treasured canal boat was sunk after a production company took over an inner city location to shoot Top Boy for Netflix.
Anthony Beanlands’ home was left submerged after the crew descended to record scenes for a new season of the gritty crime drama.
Mr Beanlands, 46, had claimed on Facebook that his boat was moved without his permission from where it had been moored in east London.
He said: ‘My beautiful lifeboat built over 100 years ago is now sitting on the bottom of the canal, along with all I own.’
The boater was sent a picture by a friend on November 19 showing the Shalom, a former lifeboat, submerged by the tow path in Hackney.
The drama is set in Summerhouse, a fictional estate in east London, but is filmed in the neighbourhood
The vessel had been undergoing repair work in Hackney Wick, along a section called the Hackney Cut.
A friend of Mr Beanlands said: ‘Everything he had was on that boat, which has been sunk after a film crew was shooting scenes for Top Boy for Netflix.
‘He had been putting a lot of hard work in repairing the flooring, which is why he wasn’t on it at the time.
‘Without the boat he’s effectively homeless, it was the central part of his life. He doesn’t want to leave it where it is but it’s going to take a lot of work to put right.
‘He’s not been able to stay with friends because of Covid so he’s been living in a tree house with no running water or amenities.
‘He is speaking to the production company about the situation.’
A local resident, who gave his name as Matthew, said: ‘The canal was shut down for three days or so at the time the boats were moved.
‘I didn’t know who the wooden houseboat belonged to at the time.
‘At one point they re-routed people to the other side of the canal, where there was a steward or security guard.
‘I think they wanted to make sure no one got in the way of the shot.
‘I didn’t think anything of it until I woke up on the 19th and I saw the boat had sunk, with people gathered around it. It was quite grim to see, especially when you consider that it’s somebody’s home.
‘When I saw posts on social media I put two and two together.’
Mr Beanlands arrived to find his boat submerged around 200 yards from where he had left it moored near Hackney Wick train station.
Filming is believed to have been taking place for the fourth series of Top Boy, which has been revived and moved from its original Channel 4 incarnation by Netflix and US rapper-singer Drake.
Mr Beanlands had previously launched a [email protected].
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