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.
We’ve made a deal. With the owner, not Ramsay. We’re still here, and we’re going to carry on staying here. We’re going to be security for him
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
