A Deptford pub named after the former job centre it now occupies has been accused of “insulting” the area and making unemployment “a joke”.

Lewisham People Before Profit have written to pub company Antic asking them to change the name of The Job Centre pub – which has been given a generally positive reception until now.

Their outraged letter says: “The current name sends an extremely insulting and profoundly negative message about the role of your establishment in the neighbourhood and your view of the majority of people who live there.

“Given the Antic Collective’s previous positive and progressive impact in other parts of south London, this is a message out of keeping with your profile and damaging to your reputation.”

Since losing down in 2010, the job centre has been used as a squat and gallery before finally being converted into a pub earlier this year.

But Lewisham People Before Profit claim that Antic are making light of a deprived area at a time when high-rise buildings are popping up around SE8, pricing long-standing residents out.