A group of squatters have taken up residence in a London gastropub owned by Gordon Ramsay, despite receiving a court order to leave the premises.
The Sun reports that some squatters still remained in the empty pub on Saturday. “We’re still here, and we’re going to carry on staying here. We’re going to be security for him,” one person told the outlet.
On April 13, a group set up camp in York & Albany, Ramsay’s $16.1 million pub, which had been temporarily closed as Ramsay prepared to sign it over to new owners.
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The group placed a notice on the front door saying that they intended to remain in the building because it “is a non-residential building,” according to the New York Post.
They added a legal threat to their notice, saying, “if you attempt to enter by violence or by threatening violence we will prosecute you … You may receive a sentence of up to six months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to £5,000 ($6,200).”
Members of the group posted to their Instagram earlier this week, explaining their decision to take over the property.
“Camden is a borough with one of the biggest wealth disparities in London, so it seems only fitting that £13 million properties that most locals would never be able to afford to visit should be opened up to all,” the group wrote. “At a time when Camden market has been bought out by a billionaire and many longstanding local businesses are being evicted from their units, it’s even more important that we all band together in all the forms of resistance that we know and can.”
The group also declared their intention to sell food and drinks from a makeshift cafe, and use the space as a public gallery.
On Tuesday, the group was served papers from a British High Court, which issued Ramsay a claim of possession. The next day, the Camden Art Collective announced that their organization had left the property, though some stragglers stayed behind.
“We wish those left in the building the best of luck in their endeavors,” the group wrote on Instagram.
On Saturday, one man who knows one of the squatters was quoted telling The Sun that his friend intends to stay and “wait for the bailiff” to have to remove them. Signs draped over the front of the building said slogans like “whatever they say, squatters will stay” and “squat the lot.”
