A group of squatters have taken over the York & Albany hotel and gastropub in central London, currently owned by Gordon Ramsay and up for sale for £13m. The group consists of at least six people who have boarded up the windows and put up a “legal warning” defending their occupation of the Grade II-listed building close to Regent’s Park. They are reported to want to use the space as a community art café.
Photos have appeared on Instagram accounts titled the Camden Art Café and Autonomous Winter Shelter, claiming that a “new squatted community space” is now open at the pub. Gordon Ramsay Restaurants is yet to comment.
According to The Sun, a squatter was found sleeping on a sofa surrounded by rubbish in the pub shortly before the windows were boarded up. In a statement, the Metropolitan Police have said that they were notified of the squatters on April 10th, but it was deemed a “civil matter” and so it was not attended.
Squatting on a person’s non-residential property without their permission is not a crime in the UK. However, police can take action if crimes are subsequently committed, including damaging the property.
Gary Love bought the freehold of the former 19th-century coaching inn in 2007 and leased it to Ramsay on a 25-year term. Ramsay failed to remove himself from the lease in a legal battle in the High Court in 2015
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