Squatters locked into Ramsay pub

SQUATTERS have taken over a Gordon Ramsay pub in London which is currently up for sale with a guide price of €15 million.

A group of at least six squatters locked themselves inside the Grade II-listed York & Albany hotel and gastropub situated just outside Regent’s Park, boarding up the windows and putting up a “legal warning” defending their takeover, according to reports.

In photographs taken before the windows had been further boarded up, a squatter could be seen sleeping on a sofa in the bar, surrounded by litter.

Yesterday morning, two masked squatters wearing black tracksuits and carrying backpacks and carrier bags exited the property, running away from reporters before they could be approached for comment.

OFFENCE

A notice taped to a door said the group had a right to occupy the venue, which they said was not a “residential building” and was therefore not subject to 2012 legislation which had created a new offence of squatting in a residential building.

Mr Ramsay called the police on Wednesday but was unable to have the squatters removed, it is understood.

Another notice asked passers-by for “food and clothes donations or anything else you no longer want or need”.

The occupation of a person’s non-residential property without their permission is not itself a crime in the UK, though police can take action if crimes are subsequently committed, including damaging the property or stealing from it.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police were made aware of squatters at a disused property in Parkway, Regent’s Park, NW1 on Wednesday, 10 April. This is a civil matter and so police did not attend the property.”