CARNABY Street, the heart of swinging London in the 1960s, is to return to British ownership, it emerged yesterday.

Shaftesbury, the property company that owns neighbouring Chinatown in London's Soho district, said yesterday it was paying £90 million sterling to buy Carnaby Estate from owner Wereldhave. The Dutch company put the estate, which includes 93 properties, up for sale with a £69.5 million price tag two months ago.