Squatters take over Colonel Gaddafi's son's £11m London mansion

Squatters occupied the £11 million London home of Colonel Gaddafi's son today in protest against the dictator's regime.

A group calling themselves Topple The Tyrants said they took over the house because they "didn't trust the British government to properly seize Gaddafi's corrupt assets".

The squatters unfurled a banner bearing a picture of Colonel Gaddafi and the slogan "Out Of Libya Out Of London" from the top of the house.

Four of them were spotted walking around on the roof as police took photographs from below.

Residents reported the burglar alarm going off at the property in Hampstead Garden Suburb. A man arrived in a black Porsche and had to be calmed down by police before driving away.

Gaddafi's son Saif tried to sell the property after his family's multi-billion pound fortune was frozen around the world. The house has a swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi and suede-lined cinema room.

Speaking from the roof, the group's leader, using the pseudonym Montgomery Jones, said: "We want to make sure the property goes back into the hand of the Libyan people who deserve it. We're here for a serious reason, we're not here to luxuriate: I don't think what we are doing is legal but I don't think it's relevant if you are talking about something this important."

Mr Jones, who said he got the day off work to attend the occupation, refused to say how many people were at the house or how they got in.

He said: "One of the first things we did was put on Al-Jazeera on the huge flat screen television. It's incredibly plush inside." The house is said to be part of a £300 million London portfolio of
Gaddafi assets that has been frozen.

A Met spokesman said: "At this time it is being treated as a civil matter."