A group of squatters have taken over an empty pub in London's Elephant and Castle after a proposal was submitted to turn it into a branch of Foxtons estate agents.
The pub being occupied, The Elephant & Castle on the corner of New Kent Road and Newington Causeway, closed recently, but has in various forms existed on the site since 1765.
The pub closed in March after its licence was revoked when somebody was stabbed in the head with a pen, reported the Evening Standard.
"It’s a social space that’s already been destroyed," he continued, but "we want it to bring together people with different ideas to try and reclaim it."
"This is not a living squat, and we are keen to be able to have community events," another squatter said as he spray-painted messages on the outside of the pub.
The community around Elephant and Castle is hugely diverse, he said, and the squatters, many of whom are students, are keen to avoid "coming across as having the white saviour complex, which is dangerous".
When BuzzFeed News visited the squat, it had been up and running for less than 24 hours, but was already making its mark on the community.
Squatters have been handing out flyers at nearby East Street Market and hope to have a website detailing events up and running soon.
The squat has been garnering a fair amount of attention from locals, with one man shouting "Resist!" out of the window of a passing bus when we visited.
One elderly passer-by we spoke to, David Harris, a former regular of the pub and a resident of the nearby Peabody estate – owned by one of London's oldest housing associations – was keen to learn about the squatters' plans.
Harris, who was heading to a nearby Wetherspoon's – his new local, now The Elephant & Castle has closed – added: "Ordinary people can’t afford the things they’re building around here.”
A woman we spoke to who preferred not to be named agreed that "it’s important that we have socially relevant spaces in this area".
Two local young girls who stopped to read the notices in the window told us: "The last thing that we need around here is a posh estate agent."
The future of the squat is uncertain, but by adding value to the community, one squatter said, "When we come to be evicted, hopefully local people will come and help us."
