A shameless group of squatters have vowed to fight Gordon Ramsay in court after the TV chef launched a legal battle to kick them out of his £13million London pub.
The invaders told how they recruited their own lawyers “to defend their rights” after Ramsay launched legal proceedings against them in the High Court.
But the brazen squatters urged Mr Ramsay to drop the case and “cut a deal” with them to “help him save some money”.
The defiant occupiers entered Ramsay’s York and Albany pub in north London early last week and told how they planned to turn the empty venue into a community cafe.
A group calling itself the Camden Arts Cafe collective announced they had vacated the building after the documents were handed over, but the occupiers today claimed 60 people remained on the premises and had no plans to leave.
Squatters have taken over the Gordon Ramsay pub, which is currently on the market for a guide price of £13m.
The boutique pub and hotel was run by Gordon Ramsay, but the chef was reportedly in the middle of renegotiating the lease.
The York & Albany pub in Camden, north London, was taken over by squatters earlier this month who said they wanted to turn it into a soup kitchen.
The occupiers stated today that 60 people remained in the place and have no plans to leave it.
One member of the group, a 28-year-old bar worker originally from Liverpool, told MailOnline: “We’re still here.” We haven’t moved. We are fighting against eviction. We will go to court with our lawyers and from there we will see what happens.”
Asking Mr Ramsay to engage the group in dialogue, he said: ‘Ramsay was here after we arrived, but he didn’t show his face. I don’t know if he was scared. He is under a lot of stress.
‘We would like to sit down and have a chat with him to explain our intentions.
‘We could save you a lot of money on court costs and security. We pay for the electricity ourselves.
‘We changed it to our names. We will be happy to reach a property guardianship agreement with him. We are happy to reach an agreement that would benefit you. Maybe set up a rolling contract for a few days at a time.
‘We could help you with money from the court case. We’ll take care of his building until the new tenant arrives and then we’ll leave.
You could save money on security if you had us here. No other squatter would move there.
Members of the group distanced themselves from squatters who had taken over a restaurant in London’s Leicester Square, run by
One member of the group, a 28-year-old bar worker originally from Liverpool, told MailOnline that the squatters had not yet moved.
The group has asked Mr Ramsay to open a dialogue with them.
The squatters said that while other members of the group had moved “to another high-profile building” in the capital, the rest planned to stay until they “still had the right to do so.”
They insisted it was not illegal to occupy residential properties and that the group had moved to highlight the homelessness crisis.
The squatter, who did not want to give his name, said: “It’s completely different to what was happening in Leicester Square.” We don’t want to be part of that. It’s antisocial.
‘We know some of them but they are not part of us.
‘We want to keep the peace. We want to get along with the neighbors.
‘The idea was to use it for the benefit of the community, which is better than leaving the building empty.
‘We are respectful. We could have hung banners in the windows and held parties here, but we haven’t because we don’t want to inconvenience the neighbors.
‘Here we are 60 people from different origins, different stories, but we are all peaceful people. We talk to the neighbors and say hello. We keep to ourselves.
The squatter said that while other members of the group had moved “to another high-profile building” in the capital, the rest planned to stay until they “still had the right to do so.”
He said: “We keep our spirits high.” If worst comes to worst, we will abandon the building. We will leave it as we found it.
‘It’s an empty building. We did not cause any damage to reach the place. There was no forced entry. We enter through an open window.
‘We are not here to destroy the building. Everything is here intact as it should be.
The group barricaded themselves inside the Grade II listed hotel and gastropub on the outskirts of Regent’s Park last week.
All of Ramsay’s kitchen equipment is still “intact” and “immaculate.”
‘We are not here to cause criminal damage. We are not here to cause Ramsay any damage to his building.
‘All his things are still here. We have not blocked the doors with kitchen knives. There are some barricades at the door but no kitchen utensils or anything like that.
‘All his kitchen equipment is intact. Everything is still there and still immaculate.
‘We turn off the gas ourselves and use our own electric center to heat things: noodles and easy things.
“There’s no budding Gordon Ramsay there; there’s a bit of fucking and blinding at times, but that’s all.”
“If they evict us, we will go somewhere else.”