Komjaunimas
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http://www.standard.co.uk/news/lond...-empty-police-station-in-norbury-9207330.html
Our house...
Audacious squatters have set up home in an abandoned police station.
The 15 east Europeans entered the boarded-up building in Norbury, and told officers who arrived five minutes later they would not leave until served with an eviction notice.
The redbrick, three-storey site, which closed last August, is one of 65 out of 136 police stations in the capital now up for sale as part of a £500 million savings plan.
A 23-year-old called Ruth, who came to London from Lithuania 18 months ago, said the group moved in on Tuesday after allegedly being evicted from a house in west London at the weekend.
“On Saturday morning the owners broke down the glass door and threw us out of bed onto the streets naked. We were walking around trying to find a place when we saw this,” she said.
She took the Standard on a guided tour. Interview rooms and cells have been turned into bedrooms but plastic bags, old clothes, cat toys and rubbish litter the floor.
Ruth claimed: “The police tried to break the door down but we asked them not to, since we live here. Everything was fine once they saw our legal warnings, and they left.”
The 12,000 sq ft site in London Road is not classed as a residential property, meaning the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime, which is handling the sale, must obtain a court order to evict the group. Ruth said the building was “cold and muddy” but its occupants were keeping warm with electric heaters.
More squatters are expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Local resident Jon Campling, an actor who appeared as a Death Eater in Harry Potter, tweeted: “Squatters occupy former Norbury police station. I feel safer already.”
Scotland Yard said: “On March 18 at approximately 8.41pm police received a report of squatters in a police building. Officers spoke to the occupants, who indicated they intend to remain until served with an eviction notice. The local Safer Neighbourhoods team will provide regular patrols in the area.”
Our house...
Audacious squatters have set up home in an abandoned police station.
The 15 east Europeans entered the boarded-up building in Norbury, and told officers who arrived five minutes later they would not leave until served with an eviction notice.
The redbrick, three-storey site, which closed last August, is one of 65 out of 136 police stations in the capital now up for sale as part of a £500 million savings plan.
A 23-year-old called Ruth, who came to London from Lithuania 18 months ago, said the group moved in on Tuesday after allegedly being evicted from a house in west London at the weekend.
“On Saturday morning the owners broke down the glass door and threw us out of bed onto the streets naked. We were walking around trying to find a place when we saw this,” she said.
She took the Standard on a guided tour. Interview rooms and cells have been turned into bedrooms but plastic bags, old clothes, cat toys and rubbish litter the floor.
Ruth claimed: “The police tried to break the door down but we asked them not to, since we live here. Everything was fine once they saw our legal warnings, and they left.”
The 12,000 sq ft site in London Road is not classed as a residential property, meaning the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime, which is handling the sale, must obtain a court order to evict the group. Ruth said the building was “cold and muddy” but its occupants were keeping warm with electric heaters.
More squatters are expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Local resident Jon Campling, an actor who appeared as a Death Eater in Harry Potter, tweeted: “Squatters occupy former Norbury police station. I feel safer already.”
Scotland Yard said: “On March 18 at approximately 8.41pm police received a report of squatters in a police building. Officers spoke to the occupants, who indicated they intend to remain until served with an eviction notice. The local Safer Neighbourhoods team will provide regular patrols in the area.”
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