Two Sri Lankans only non-whites in British village

Two Sri Lankans are the only non-whites in Brotton in North Yorkshire, a village between pretty Whitby to the south and grittier Middlesbrough northwards, in the UK, Daily Mail reported.

The TS12 postcode that covers much of Brotton records it as the least ethnically mixed in the entire country.

Official data from the last census reveals that, of 1108 people recorded in this area of the North Yorkshire village, all but two identified as White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British.

And those other two? One was ‘White Irish, the other ‘White Other’.

But that census was from 2021-2 and when MailOnline visited we found the statistics have since shifted: two Sri Lankan men have since moved to the TS12 area of Brotton with their families.

It seems that recent arrivals, friends Sam Ruthran and Moohanaslan Shambasivan, who now run the village shop and Post Office respectively, have altered Brotton’s hitherto unique social make-up.

So what is it like to be ‘the only non-white in the village?’

According to Sam and Moohanasian it’s actually rather nice – and certainly less life-threatening than they civil war they say forced them to leave their homeland.

The Sri Lankan pair say they were attracted to the former mining village by its relatively rock bottom rents – and both say they received a warm welcome on their arrival from locals.

Sam, 36 who now runs Brotton’s Value Grocers, said: ‘You do notice that there aren’t many people who aren’t white here, but that’s never been a problem.

‘The people here are nice and it’s a lovely quiet area.

‘There has been the occasional comment which has been unpleasant, but only from a very small minority.’

Explaining why Brotton, he continued: ‘We left Sri Lanka as a result of the civil war, it wasn’t safe to stay there for my family, and we ended up coming to Britain and going first to Dartford in Kent.

‘Then a friend who was in Middlesbrough suggested we come up north and then we saw this shop in Brotton and we’re glad we came here.

‘Our rent for a three bedroom house in Dartford was £1,200 and here it’s £600.’

Sam’s pal Moohanaslan, 39, has been in charge of Brotton’s Post Office for almost four years and had enjoyed his stay – but says he may not settle permanently as it’s too quiet.

He said: ‘People have been good to us here and we’ve never had any trouble, I like it but I think I’d like to go somewhere busier.

‘It’s a friendly place and we do feel part of the community but I hope at some point to move to a bigger town.’

But he has noticed that Brotton has some social issues, with many out of work and on low incomes.

Moohanaslan continued: ‘You can tell when the benefit payments have been made because for two weeks people come in and spend money in the shop, then for the next two weeks it’s quiet as they run out of money.’

Despite the conspicuous absence of migrants in the town, there remains an apparently high support for the party most associated with reducing migrant numbers nationally, Reform UK.

Read the full article on Daily Mail