Artists evicted from £6m squat move into £22m Mayfair mews

SQUATTERS evicted from a £6 million house in Mayfair have found a new home - a £22.5 million property just around the corner.

The squatters, a collective of young artists, have been living in Clarges Mews near Berkeley Square since last month. But the owners, a company called Timekeeper Ltd, only noticed when a Christmas tree was spotted through a window.

Timekeeper has now instructed lawyers to apply for an eviction order. A hearing is due to take place today at a county court in central London which could see the squatters evicted immediately.

Timekeeper bought the Grade II*--listed property - part of which is being squatted - for £22.5million in April 2007 at the peak of the housing boom. It was lying empty while the firm awaited planning permission for renovations.

The artists moved in after being evicted from a house in Upper Grosvenor Street worth £6.25million.

Known as the Da! Collective, they are hosting a series of events at their latest home this weekend. The squat's website temporaryschool.org lists sessions including "labyrinth building with Steph" which takes place tomorrow followed by "deschooling society". On Sunday there is bookbinding, role-playing and a discussion on "virtual utopias".

The activities are even advertised with posters on nearby lampposts and sandwich boards. Photographs on the website show living rooms with fireplaces and high ceilings.

The squatters have been quite selective about who they let in to 39A Clarges Mews. They refused access to a Standard journalist today on the grounds that they did not wish to mingle with mainstream media.

One report suggested they had made "improvements" since taking over - even adding a library complete with librarian's ladder.

However, the property's dilapidated exterior is matched by the bare walls and mountains of apparently junk material stored by the artists within, and there are makeshift beds throughout the house.

Timekeeper's solicitor Andrew Jeffrey said: "I spoke to one of the squatters over the phone, a young woman, and she was very polite. She told me that they thought the building was empty and that they were highlighting the number of empty buildings in London But I told her that, although the building was unoccupied, it wasn't abandoned.

"The building was empty because, since my clients bought it in 2007, they have been making a series of planning applications, which have been very complicated because the building is Grade II*-listed."

While at the previous address in Mayfair one of the artists Stephanie Smith, 21, told the Standard: "If anything, we are improving the building [in Upper Grosvenor Street] by mending leaks and things. The building is listed so English Heritage might be interested to see how the owners have let it disintegrate."

Miss Smith says the group are now shunning media attention. She said: "I can't speak about it. We are not doing anything with the press."

Click below to see a video shot inside the squatters' house: