A group of squatters have taken over Gordon Ramsay’s £13million pub, threatening legal action against those who try to force them to leave.
At least six people have locked themselves inside the York and Albany hotel and gastropub in London, boarding up the windows and taping up a “legal warning” to the door.
The warning on the outside of the Grade-II listed building said the group had a right to occupy the pub, which they said was not a “residential building” and was therefore not subject to 2012 legislation in England and Wales that made squatting in a residential building a criminal offence.
It read: “Take notice that we occupy this property and at all times there is at least one person in occupation.
Gordon Ramsay's £13m pub has been taken over by a group of squatters who are threatening legal action if anyone tries to force them out
PA
“That any entry or attempt to enter into these premises without our permission is therefore a criminal offence as any one of us who is in physical possession is opposed to such entry without our permission.
“That 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.
“That 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.”
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At least six people have locked themselves inside the York and Albany hotel and gastropub
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Ramsay contacted the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday but was unable to have the squatters removed from the gastropub near Regent’s Park.
The force said in a statement on April 10: “This is a civil matter and so police did not attend the property.”
Photos snapped of the interior of the property showed debris everywhere, with a squatter sleeping on a sofa in the bar.
Ramsay is on a 25-year term lease on the building, with an annual rent of £640,000
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The Hell’s Kitchen host had been due to sign over a multi-million-pound lease to new owners before the squatters took over.
Ramsay leased the building for 25 years from film director Gary Love – who bought the 19th century building in 2007 - with an annual rent of £640,000.
The Kitchen Nightmares star unsuccessfully tried to free himself from the lease in a legal battle at the high court in 2015.
Per Government guidance, squatters can apply to become the registered owners of a property if they have continuously occupied it for 10 years, acted as owners for the entire duration of time and had not previously been permitted to live there by the owner.