Squatters have vowed to remain inside a Gordon Ramsay pub in London, claiming to have reached an agreement with the building’s owner.
The group shut themselves in the York & Albany near Regent’s Park, north London, last week.
Lawyers for Gordon Ramsay Holdings International Limited (GRHI) secured a High Court order for the possession of the premises on Thursday, which had appeared to pave the way for enforcement officers to retake the Grade II listed building.
On Saturday, court orders taped to the doors of the premises had been torn down and a squatter said the group would be staying put.
“We’ve made a deal”, he told the PA news agency, adding: “With the owner, not Ramsay.”
He said: “We’re still here, and we’re going to carry on staying here. We’re going to be security for him.”
READ MORE: Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza closed
The former pub and hotel building in Camden is on the market for £13 million, after a protracted legal battle between Hell’s Kitchen presenter Ramsay and film director Gary Love.
In 2007, Mr Love purchased the freehold of the premises, before leasing the pub to Ramsay on a 25-year term for an annual rent of £640,000.
The celebrity chef attempted to free himself from the lease in 2015 but was unsuccessful in the High Court.
On Thursday, lawyers for GRHI were granted an order by Judge Simon Brown to retake the property.
Some of the squatters initially said they would comply with the ruling, leading to a steady stream of people leaving on Friday.
However, a number of those who left have since returned and it is unclear how many people remain inside the building.
Gordon Ramsay has been in a protracted legal battle with the building’s owner (PA)
Banners which had been draped from the balcony, reading “whatever they say, squatters will stay” and “squat the lot”, have been removed by the occupants.
A man, who said he was a friend of one of the squatters, entered the York & Albany briefly on Friday and said afterwards those inside had no intention of leaving.
“They’re going to wait for the bailiff,” he told PA, adding: “That’s basically what they’re going to end up doing.”
READ MORE: Restaurant group owned by Gordon Ramsay posts financial results
The friend, who would not give his name but said he is a former squatter himself, added that those inside the building were young, homeless and had been squatting in various locations for a long time.
The squatter group ran a cafe out of the building last week, handing out free food and drink to “the people of Camden who have been victims of gentrification and parasitic projects like HS2″.
A squatter told the PA news agency on Friday: “We’re not bad people. I pay my taxes, I’ve got a job, I work in a pub.”
He added: “We just need a place to stay, that’s it. We’re trying to do a good thing here.”
PA has attempted to contact Mr Love and Mr Ramsay for comment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel