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Squatters evicted from Croydon house after turning property into nightclub

Summary:

Around 100 people crammed into the house on King’s Road.

Image:

By Emily Ray

Squatters were evicted from a South Norwood property last week after turning the disused house into a nightclub.

Police arrived at 22 King’s Road on Sunday March 30 at approximately 7:30am after complaints from residents.

Adrian Mitchell, 28, who lives next door to the house, said: “There were around a hundred people inside, with a DJ blaring out music. It looked like they were even charging people to go in.

“The whole road was full of cars as people were dropped off to go into the house. They were just disrupting the whole road.”

Mr. Mitchell said the problem started the week before when squatters moved in after the previous tenant left the property.

Although an impromptu party was held into the early hours of Sunday March 23, it wasn’t until the early hours of Mother’s Day the next weekend that Mr. Mitchell was forced to call the police.

However, Mr. Mitchell criticised the delay in which police responded to his call.

“I must have phoned the police about 15 times from 12:50am,” he said. “They just told me I needed to speak to the council as they don’t deal with noise issues.

“All it would have taken was a police officer to come along and deter them. Instead, I had to phone them every 30 minutes for seven hours until someone showed up.”

A police statement: “We can confirm that police attended an address in Kings Road, South Norwood on the morning of Sunday, 30 March, following reports and complaints linked to a party at the address. Officers spoke with those present and they left the premises.

“Police have since spoken to the landlord of the property regarding the security of the premises. Officers from the South Norwood Safer Neighbourhoods Team have also spoken with local residents in the area to advise them to contact police should any similar incidents occur.

“Anyone with concerns can contact their local police team by calling 101.”

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