Gordon Ramsay has been left helpless as squatters have taken over his £13 million pub.
Yep, a group have apparently shacked up inside one of the TV chef’s properties in London.
The Grade II-listed York & Albany hotel and gastropub is currently up for sale – with a guide price of a whopping £13million – but at least six squatters have taken over the place, the Sun has reported.
They’ve boarded up the windows and defended themselves with a ‘legal warning’ outside of Ramsay’s place close to Regent’s Park.
The York & Albany hotel and gastropub has been taken over by squatters. (PA)
And earlier this morning (13 April), two masked squatters ran from reporters as they exited the pub with backpacks and carrier bags. Speedily getting away, they avoided being approached for comment.
But they’ve made their feelings clear in a piece of paper taped to the door, signed by ‘The Occupiers’.
In their notice, the squatters claim they’ve got a right to occupy Ramsay’s place as it’s not ‘residential building’.
This means it’s apparently not subject to 2012 legislation which had created a new offence of squatting in a residential building.
And thanks to this loophole (in a way), the group reckon they can get away with squatting in the chef’s pricey pub.
The paper on one of the property’s doors also read: “Take notice that we occupy this property and at all times there is at least one person in occupation.
“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.
The squatters claim they’ve got a right to occupy Ramsay’s place as it’s not ‘residential building’. (PA)
“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.”
Ramsay made an attempt to get rid of them earlier this week as it’s understood he called the police on Wednesday but was unable to have them removed.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police were made aware of squatters at a disused property in Parkway, Regent’s Park, NW1 on Wednesday, 10 April.
“This is a civil matter and so police did not attend the property.”
People occupying someone’s non-residential property without permission isn’t a crime. However, police can take action if crimes are then subsequently committed such as damaging the place or stealing from it.
What a nightmare. (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Another notice put up asks passers-by for ‘food and clothes donations or anything else you no longer want or need’.
If the squatters want to make it theirs, they’ll have to put in quite the shift as according to government guidance, they’ll have to occupy it continuously for 10 years, act as owners the whole time and have not been given permission to live there.
In 2007, film director Gary Love bought the freehold of the former nineteenth century coaching inn. He then leased it to Ramsay on a 25-year term with an annual rent at £640,000.
The TV chef unsuccessfully attempted to free himself from the lease in a legal battle at the High Court in 2015. The place went on sale at the end of 2023 with a £13million guide price.