Squatters leave Gordon Ramsay's London pub, says representative

York and Albany Pub
The gastropub and hotel is up for sale for £13m [PA Media]
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Squatters who took over a Gordon Ramsay pub in London have all left the building, a representative for the celebrity chef said.

The group shut themselves in the York & Albany near Regent's Park, on 13 April.

Locksmiths and bailiffs arrived at the property around 05:00 BST on Monday to change the locks and secure the venue, the Evening Standard reported.

Lawyers for Mr Ramsay's company secured a High Court order for the premises on Thursday

Some squatters began leaving the building on Friday but others vowed they would remain inside the gastropub and hotel, claiming to have reached an agreement with the building's owner.

Film director Gary Love, who purchased the freehold of the premises in 2007, denied the claims in a statement made on the same day.

A representative for Mr Ramsay said the squatters had now all left the building, from which they had been running an "autonomous cafe" and arts space.

Members of the Anarchist Association London Branch and the Camden Art Cafe had previously been with the squatters, 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."

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

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

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


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