Image source, Alison Earle/BBC
Squatters have taken over a pub owned by Gordon Ramsay in central London, which is currently up for sale with a guide price of £13m.
The group of at least six people have boarded up windows and put up a “legal warning” defending their occupation of the Grade II-listed York & Albany hotel and gastropub near Regent’s Park.
The BBC understands they want to use the space as a community art cafe.
Gordon Ramsay Restaurants has been contacted for comment by the BBC.
BBC reporter Alison Earle, who is at the scene, said a notice asking for food and donations had been ripped down.
Two accounts on Instagram called the Camden Art Cafe and Autonomous Winter Shelter have posted about a “new squatted community space” at the York & Albany hotel.
Photos appear to show part of the interior of the pub set up with tables.
The Met said it had been called but it was a “civil matter”.
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, The Sun has reported.
On Saturday morning, two masked squatters wearing black tracksuits and carrying backpacks and carrier bags left the property, avoiding journalists, the Press Association reported.
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 bans squatting in a residential building.
Signed by “The Occupiers”, the notice said there was always “at least one person in occupation” and claimed any attempt to enter the premises without their permission was a criminal offence and could result in a prison sentence or fine.
“If you want to get us out you will have to issue a claim for possession in the county court or in the High Court,” the note added.
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.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said it was made aware of squatters on 10 April.
“This is a civil matter and so police did not attend the property,” the force added.
According to government guidance, squatters can apply to become the registered owners of a property if they have occupied it continuously for 10 years, acted as owners for the whole of that time and had not previously been given permission to live there by the owner.
In 2007, film director Gary Love bought the freehold of the former 19th Century coaching inn and subsequently leased it to Mr Ramsay on a 25-year term with an annual rent of £640,000.
The Kitchen Nightmares host unsuccessfully attempted to free himself from the lease in a legal battle at the High Court in 2015.
The venue went on sale at the end of last year with a guide price of £13m.
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