The squalor left behind in £30m Park Lane flat as squatters are evicted

By Ryan Kisiel for the Daily Mail
Updated: 03:04 EST, 29 January 2009

The address is just as exclusive as that of her family's New York penthouse apartment. But Anna Cole's squat in Park Lane didn't come with quite the same number of little luxuries.

There were no loos, for instance, no central heating, no showers, no telephone - and almost certainly no hairdryer.

So she just had to improvise, with a mattress on the floor and a pretty pink duvet cover, a cardboard box for a dressing table and string for a clothing rail.

Park Lane squat

Anna Cole fixed up her corner of the Park Lane squat with a mattress, a cardboard box for a dressing table and a few bright trinkets

Park Lane squatters

Squatters move out after being given their marching orders

Miss Cole, 22, whose father is a wealthy lawyer in New York, moved into the £15million mansion owned by the Duke of Westminster in December.

She came to the UK last year after graduating from university and found that squatting in London was so easy there was no point in paying rent.

Park Lane squat

The squatters from 94 and 95 Park Lane dance after being evicted from the property

'I'd never consider squatting in the United States - they would send me to prison,' she said.

'But when I got to London I was really lucky to find this place.

'I came here on a six-month working visa because I wanted to work in London for a while but I don't actually earn enough to pay the rent on most places.'

The house, one of two neighbouring properties occupied by squatters, overlooks Hyde Park.

'It's such a lovely area - I even saw Stephen Fry in the street the other day,' she said.

Miss Cole, who has a degree in art and theatre studies and went to private schools in Manhattan, added: 'I'd like to thank the Duke of Westminster for his hospitality.'

Yesterday, however, that hospitality ran out.

Bailiffs used a sledgehammer to storm the pair of seven-storey mansions at 94 and 95 Park Lane and evict Miss Cole, her housemates and their pets.

As a cameraman went inside to record the damage for insurers - such as gaping holes in walls - the squatters stood around outside playing violins and guitars and using pots and pans as drums for an Irish jig.

The Grade II-listed buildings, once home to the wealthy and famous, are leased to property companies by the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor Estates for use as offices.

A judge at Central London County Court ruled yesterday that the owners could take back possession immediately.

Park Lane squat

Interior decorator: One of the squatters brightened up the room

Park Lane squatters

The palatial homes are in a prime location opposite Hyde Park

Park Lane squatters

The state of one of the rooms where the squatters were living rent-free

Park Lane squatters

And they even managed a smile for the cameras

Park Lane squatters

An impromptu concert to farewell Park Lane after the bailiffs' visit

Park Lane squatters

The squatters weren't the cleanest occupants



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