Squatters ejected from oligarch's £15m mansion move into new base yards away

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John Dunne @jhdunne1 February 2017

A group of squatters who were evicted from a mansion in Eaton Square have taken over another building worth millions of pounds just hours after being moved.

Activists from the Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians were thrown out of the five-storey, Grade II-listed building after a two-and-a-half-hour standoff with bailiffs.

They have now settled into a seven storey building in Grosvenor Gardens.

The property has a blue plaque on the front commemorating eminent anthropologist Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt- Rivers who lived there from 1827-1900.

The ground floor has chandeliers and although the building is empty it has running water and heating.

The site of the new squat in in Grosvenor Gardens

One of the squatters, Teejay, said: "It's better than the other building in many ways. It has water and heat. We know they will try and get us out if here but we will hopefully have a while."

The group first moved in to an empty property in Eaton Square owned by Russian tycoon Andrey Goncharenko ten days ago, boarding up the windows, setting up a kitchen and office space and spraying graffiti on the Regency era walls.

Yesterday a county court judge took just four minutes to grant the possession order, and today bailiffs and police moved in.

A live video feed from inside the house showed the eviction unfold, with activists seen initially repelling bailiffs at the front door.

Later, several bailiffs, accompanied by police officers, smashed open a basement door and began dragging activists away as bemused tourists looked on.

One of the squatters moves in to the new site

Shouts of “The whole world is watching” rang out as the squatters were frogmarched into the street with their suitcases, rucksacks and sleeping bags.

Jess Ellis, 23, was forced to the ground outside and sent sprawling onto the pavement.

She said: “They were heavy handed. A female sheriff tacked me first and pushed me. Then the bloke grabbed me it was horrible and they were very out of order.”

Nico Phillips, 36, who is disabled, said: “This is a society where a building belonging to a very rich person can remain empty. It’s a disgrace and a very sad indictment. We are peaceful people with nowhere else to go.”

The Anarchist collective had spent the night on patrols along the balcony, barricading windows and putting up a large canvas on the roof in a bid to prevent police entry.

On Saturday they had come under attack from masked "fascists."

Last year Eaton Square was named the most expensive place to buy property in Britain, with homes costing on average £17 million.

The house is one of four purchased by Goncharenko over a three-year period, including Hanover Lodge, in Regent’s Park, for which he paid £120 million – making it one of the UK’s most expensive homes.

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