At home... with the police station squatters

The first pictures have been taken from inside the former police station which has been been turned into a squatters' den.

Embarrassed police are going to court today to claim back the disused Arbour Square station in Stepney.

But the squatters told the Evening Standard they have nowhere else to go.

The first of the group moved in on New Year's Eve and now the station is "home" to 30 hard-up musicians and artists.

The interview rooms, where hardened criminals including the Kray twins and suspected IRA terrorists were quizzed, have been turned into makeshift bedrooms; the cells and adjoining magistrates' court have become a party venue.

The squatters include jobless factory fitter Andrey Idzikowski, 29, a Pole, who plays in a band called The Kings of Chaos.

He came to London last year after Poland's accession to the EU. He claims he was talked into squatting by a friend when work dried up and his money ran out.

He said he and 15 other people discovered the station on Boxing Day, but were forced out by police within 24 hours. He returned on New Year's Eve from a neighbouring squat, and others moved in over the New Year.

Perched on the court witness stand, Mr Idzikowski said: "This is now a good place for parties. We have a DJ and we have rigged up an amplifier and decks. It's a lot better than it used to be."

He said life inside the squat was a "democracy". House meetings are called and residents vote on issues such as recycling, cleaning and cooking duties. The station has water, electricity and gas, and the group have hooked up heaters and use the old police canteen.

"I have a big room I could not afford to rent normally," said Mr Idzikowski, who has a wife and a son aged six in Poland.

Except for the damage caused by five years of neglect and damp, the station's interior is almost the same as when it closed in 1999. The charging desk is still in the entrance hall and the oakpanelled courts are intact. The white-tiled cells may be musty and damp, but they have benches and lavatories.

Mr Idzikowski added: "There are a lot of people who have lived in a lot of squats and they know what rights we have. We can open every building when there is nobody inside. In England there is very good law about squatting. Nobody can go into your squat. They must make an eviction if they want to come in."

In closing down, the local station has gone the way of many others. It was recently sold and contracts are due to be exchanged with the new owner, who, it is believed, plans to convert it into luxury flats. The police, powerless to move the squatters by force, are today making a claim for trespass at Shoreditch Crown Court, where it will be decided if an eviction can take place.

A Metropolitan police source said: "It is very embarrassing. They are probably using the old police showers and cooking in the police canteen."