Ralph Miller and Benedict Moore-Bridger report:
A hotelier who moved out of his house for a week while it was being renovated has been left homeless after Italian squatters took it over.
Connan Gupta, 40, who had been staying with his sister, returned to find 10 unwelcome visitors at his £700,000, five-bedroom home in Camberwell.
The squatters, who claimed they were students unable to pay living costs in London, changed the locks and refused to let him in. The four men and six women, who brought in two pet dogs, said five more squatters would be arriving in the coming days.
They said they would not move out as the property had been unoccupied and they had not broken in.
Bizarre, right? Should take one call to the police to resolve, right?
Apparently not. It’s a “civil” issue, and the homeowner has to go to court and get an eviction order. In the meantime, he’s out of his own home and the squatters are there.
Read about it the London Evening Standard.