A spokeswoman for Stella said in a statement: “Our intent was never to smear the town in the photo, now known to us as Jaywick Sands in Essex. We never used the name. For us it was an example of a town overburdened by poor governance, which is exactly what we in our district are seeking to prevent at every level.”
A UK government index ranked Jaywick Sands as the most deprived neighbourhood in England in 2010 and 2015.
