Dozens profit in cash-grab stunt

The stunt aimed to get others to invest in Elephant and Castle

Dozens of Londoners made some extra cash on their way to school and work when a property developer gave away hundreds of £5 notes.

The 308 fivers were stuck onto a 48ft poster on the side of a building in south London's Elephant and Castle.

Among those to profit from the two-minute cash-grabbing frenzy was a schoolboy, cleaner and bin man.

Oakmayne Properties, behind the publicity stunt, is redeveloping the £20m South Central East building.

The company which also gave £1,000 to the local St Mungo's homeless charity, said they wanted to get people to invest in the area.

The redevelopment, the first project in a £1.5bn regeneration of Elephant and Castle, is described as "mixed use" and will have 88 private flats - costing between £265,000 and £450,000 - office space and 25 units of affordable housing.

PLANS FOR THE ELEPHANT Removing Heygate Estate Building 4,200 homes Re-routing traffic New city academy Four new open spaces New retail and leisure space New civic square Two new "landmark" buildings

The plan for regenerating the170-acre site was adopted by Southwark Council last year.

Elephant and Castle's red shopping centre and five 12-storey blocks of flats are to be demolished and the gyratory road system will be re-routed.

In its place, there would be 4,200 new and replacement homes, four new open spaces, a new civic square and a market square using "forgotten" Victorian railway arches.