While identical twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray became known to a whole new audience when Tom Hardy played both of them in the film Legend - there is no getting away from it that they are are probably two of the most notorious gangsters in British history.

And while many will know of the two murders and countless assaults, robberies and arson attacks they were involved with as they spread fear across east London in the 1950s and 1960s, fewer will be aware that these prolific criminals were known to visit Croydon.

Although the pair lived in Bethnal Green, their older brother Charlie actually lived in Sanderstead - and the twins were known to visit him, often as they made their way south to Brighton.

Writing about his run-in with the gangsters in the early 1960s, Richard Hall, who runs the blog Chronicles of a Croydon Boy, described his shock when they turned up at the betting shop he was working in on Tamworth Road.


He wrote: "At about 1.30pm one afternoon I was sorting through the early morning slips with my back to the counter when [the shop owner] came to my desk and sat on the corner.

"He whispered to me, 'The Twins have just come in'.

"Four minutes later the door burst open and four of [the shop owner's] so-called acquaintances came striding in.

"The Krays knew him as he and his dad had often supplied cars for them.

"Very smartly dressed in blue mohair tailored suits; pristine collars and ties and expensive-looking shoes - that was the Krays.

"The Krays had about £20 in a couple of bets, which they lost. No doubt they could afford it."

Reggie (left) and Ronnie Kray pictured with their mum Violet in their days as amateur boxers

Mr Hall said he thinks his chance meeting with the twins happened in 1962 and that their bets were placed on horse races.

In the early 60s, the Krays were as well-known for their status as nightclub owners as they were as hardened mobsters.

They were often spotted socialising at central London clubs, hanging out with the likes of MPs, Frank Sinatra and Barbara Windsor.

And although they never owned a south London club themselves, Charlie, who was six years older than Ronnie and Reggie, went on to run Croydon's much-loved Blue Orchid in the 1980s.


A member of his brothers' gang himself, Charlie had served seven years in prison for his involvement in the murder of Jack "The Hat" McVitie - having been accused of helping the twins dispose of his body - before buying the venue, on Park Lane.

Ronnie and Reggie were still in prison at the time, having both been handed life sentences in 1969 for the murders of George Cornell and McVitie.

Charlie continued to run the two-discotheque club until 1997, when he was jailed for a second time after a police sting uncovered the fact that he was smuggling millions of pounds worth of cocaine into Surrey and London.

Before standing trial, he sold the Blue Orchid to First Leisure.

He was ordered to serve 12 years in jail but died in Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 73 three years later, in 2000.

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Queues at Woolworths, Hounslow

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