Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is navigating a squatter problem in his own pub in central London.
The TV chef was preparing to hand over his temporarily closed bar while finalizing a multimillion-dollar deal with new partners when a squatter gang broke into his York & Albany bar and hotel.
Ramsay has had law enforcement involved since last Wednesday but has been unsuccessful in removing the squatters, which consist of at least five men and a woman, from his pub and hotel near Regent’s Park.
A source told The Sun that this has been a “nightmare” for the chef.
“They’ve now boarded themselves in the building and are slowly taking over the place, leaving their crap everywhere and brazenly telling locals this is now their home,” the source reportedly said, adding, “They’ve glued tight all the locks and are cooking up a storm in the kitchen, which is especially galling for Gordon.”
The squatters are claiming legal rights and have put up a legal warning outside the building for Ramsay and law enforcement.
“Take notice that we occupy this property and at all times there is at least one person in occupation,” the notice reads, adding that “any entry or attempt to enter into these premises without our permission is therefore a criminal offense as any one of us who is in physical possession is opposed to such entry without our permission.”
The group says that the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment Offenders Act allows for nonresidential building occupation to not be a crime and they have the right to be there.
London’s Metropolitan Police reportedly are calling it a “civil matter” and “will take action where appropriate.”
Two Instagram accounts, Autonomous Winter Shelter and Camden Art Cafe, are encouraging people to “pop down to a new squatted community space in Camden,” where there is a “free” art cafe.
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“Come on down and say hi, grab some food and a coffee on our first day open tomorrow,” the social media post read. “Bring your artwork to put up in the cafe.”
Social media users responded to the Instagram post, ripping the squatters.
“All I get from this is that you people believe it’s OK to take other people’s property. Just thievery with extra words, no different,” an Instagram user said in their post.