Squatters leave Gordon Ramsay’s £13m London pub

The group locked themselves in York & Albany near Regent’s Park, north London, on April 13, boarding up the windows, locking the doors and issuing a “legal notice” to defend their takeover.

Locksmiths and bailiffs arrived at the property around 5am on Monday to change the locks and secure the site, the Evening Standard reported.

A representative for Mr Ramsay told the PA news agency that the squatters have now all left the building, from which they ran an “autonomous cafe” and art space.

Some had already left the site after lawyers for Gordon Ramsay Holdings International Limited (GRHI) secured a High Court order for the property on Thursday, appearing to pave the way for enforcement officers to fully recapture the landmark building.

But on Saturday the squatters tore off court orders taped to the venue’s doors and vowed to stay in the gastropub and hotel, claiming to have reached an agreement with the building’s owner.

Film director Gary Love, who bought ownership of the property in 2007, denied the claims in a statement made the same day.

Members of the Anarchist Association London Branch and the Camden Art Cafe had previously attended the squatters, handing out free food and drinks to “the people of Camden who have been victims of gentrification and parasitic projects such as HS2”.

One squatter told the PA news agency on Friday: “We are not bad people. I pay my taxes, I have a job, I work in a café.”

He added: “We just need a place to stay, that’s all. We’re trying to do something good here.”

Mr Love leased the pub to Mr Ramsay for a term of 25 years at an annual rent of £640,000.

The Kitchen Nightmares host unsuccessfully tried to free himself from the lease in a legal battle at the Supreme Court in 2015.

The site went on sale at the end of last year for a guide price of £13 million.