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London is so empty that they’ve repainted the Abbey Road zebra crossing

James Manning
Written by
James Manning
Content Director, EMEA
London’s Abbey Road crossing, empty of people
Photograph: Shutterstock
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For tourists, the Abbey Road crossing is a dream: the site of The Beatles’ last album cover photoshoot, just outside the Abbey Road Studios where they recorded pretty much everything.

However, for most Londoners, it’s literally just a zebra crossing in St John’s Wood (unless you’re a cabbie trying to make a quick journey through St John’s Wood, in which case it’s a bloody nightmare). Zebra crossings need maintaining, and the number of tourists posing on Abbey Road makes that difficult: under normal circumstances they’re all over it all the time, as the studios’ live webcam shows.

However, London is deserted right now – and Westminster Council has quickly seized the opportunity to repaint the Abbey Road crossing. The day after the UK’s lockdown order, workmen gave the crossing a brand new lick of white paint. (According to the council, they obeyed social distancing and strict hand-washing at all times.)

Silver linings of the current situation are hard to come by, but Beatles fans will be happy to know that the world-famous crossing is now looking its best – and ready to receive hordes of visitors once things return to normal.

In other lockdown news, this legendary Londoner has been hosting community aerobics classes on his doorstep.

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