‘Ello, ‘ello, ‘ello: police officers and Reclaim Croydon squatters have a quiet chat, as the eviction in Wandle Park took place this morning. There were no reports of any ‘incidents’
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES and AUSTEN COOPER
Officers from the Metropolitan Police moved in on the squatters at the Wandle Park café this morning – without any prior notice as is usually required to secure an eviction.
Send in the clown: did Mayor Jason Perry tire of waiting for the council’s legal department to take action? Or was he just angry that he missed the clown workshop at the weekend?
It is suggested that the police action was at the behest of a humiliated Mayor Jason Perry, after the action group, Reclaim Croydon, had succeeded in reopening the café and as well as providing a much-needed shelter for the homeless, also serving drinks and refreshments from the council-owned building – something that the £84,000 per year Tory politician had failed to do in more than three years.
At around 11am today, Reclaim Croydon issued what amounted to a social media distress signal.
“Police are evicting Wandle Park café right now!” a notice on their Instagram account said.
Eviction notice: Reclaim Croydon say that the council notice is unlawful, and that there was never any ‘anti-social behaviour’
“No notice given!
“Removing a community space that was left empty!”
According to one eye-witness, the people who had occupied what they’d called Reclaim Café “were forced to dump their possessions and tools on to the grass outside the now empty building, as officers, working with council officials, secured the disused building”.
The squatters trudged away down Waddon New Road, with some of their cooking tools and and art equipment hurriedly loaded on to a “borrowed” supermarket trolleys.
Masked up to avoid being registered on the government’s facial recognition database, a spokesperson for Reclaim Croydon said that the eviction notice was illegal. It had been served simply for the “crime” of giving people free tea and coffee.
The notice also cited “anti-social behaviour”, which Reclaim Croydon strenuously deny.
The Reclaim Croydon spokesperson also said that the group had even been in discussions with council officials on legitimising their re-use of the facility, which places today’s actions in a particularly sinister and cynical light.
Reclaim Croydon were known to have made some repairs to the building, which despite being only 12 years old is already suffering from poor maintenance by the cash-strapped council and roof issues.
The café, and the park’s public conveniences inside, have been closed since the first covid lockdown five years ago. Croydon has since failed to find a business operator prepared to take on the property under the onerous terms demanded by the local authority.
Last month, Reclaim Croydon stepped in and demonstrated the art of the possible. Over the Bank Holiday weekend, the squatters’ group arranged an elaborate programme of events, including a collective lunch, a circus show and a clown workshop.
Mayor Perry might have learned something useful if he’d bothered to turn up for that event.
As Inside Croydon reported earlier this week, piss-poor Perry had first promised to have the café re-opened by 2023. But that year came and went, as has 2024, without a can of fizzy pop or a single ice cream being sold from the park’s caff, where the toilets remain steadfastly unopened.
Wheeled away: Reclaim Croydon move their equipment out of Wandle Park
Earlier this year, Perry made yet another promise, saying that he would re-open the purpose-built café by May. May has come and gone, and still the café remained closed, at least in the conventional sense.
Other news outlets, not based in Croydon, have since followed up on our exclusive report. The council was reported as saying it is “still trying to gain repossession via peaceful means”.
But this is the same council where the most senior legal official is Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, whose staff earlier this year turned up at a court hearing to evict Reclaim Croydon from a children’s home in Reedham, but had their application thrown out by the judge when they couldn’t prove that the council owned the property.
Reclaim Croydon is the same group of anarchist squatters who took over the vacant offices of Brick by Brick on George Street in 2023, until bailiffs smashed in the doors and the group were forced to leave.
For an ineffectual and increasingly untrusted Mayor, headlines ridiculing Perry’s impotence appear to have been the final straw and are understood to have prompted a call from the Town Hall to the local Old Bill to request assistance with an urgent intervention.
There are some questions about whether the police action, without the usual legal nicety of a warning from bailiffs, may have gone beyond what is lawfully allowed.
“The cops just turned up with an eviction notice, but without prior warning,” according to one source.
It has been suggested that the eviction was a Croydon Council operation, with police officers attending only in order to prevent any “escalations”, and “simply in a supporting capacity”.
What we’ll be missing: the activities offered each week at the caff by Reclaim Croydon, now ended by Jason Perry
There were no reports of any “incidents”.
The Metropolitan Police and Croydon Council have been asked for comment.
Wandle Park, wedged in alongside railway and tram tracks on the western edge of the borough close to the Purley Way, is among the oldest public open spaces in Croydon. The café was built in 2013 as part of a multi-million-pound restoration of the park.
As Reclaim Croydon left Wandle Park this morning, they were defiant, saying, “We’ll be back.”
Meanwhile, thanks to Mayor Jason Perry, anyone now needing to use the toilets while in the park will have to head for the bushes.
The flushable ones are in the locked-up café.
Read more: Reclaim Croydon’s free bookshop and café closed by bailiffs
Read more: Welcome to the House of Fun! Squatters claim court victory
Read more: Activists provide shelter to 40 people ignored by council
Read more: IT’S OFFICIAL: Croydon still among country’s worst councils
*Updated at 1.15pm to add Reclaim Croydon quotes and images
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Where can Reclaim go next in Croydon under Perry’s rule?
With the blight that he has extended and expanded, they will be spoilt for inactive Property to go to.
At least the Squatters provide some form of public service with their activity. Something that old part-time Perry parodies, but doesn’t actually do.
Come in the clown, welcome Mr Perry!
Was an IPO or court order issued? Even with an IPO or court order the group are legally allowed to remain for up to 24 hours, I assume they know their rights. Although I’m not a hot shot lawyer like Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
The clowncil seem to be efficient in stopping things, but when it comes to being productive they are absolutely useless.
I wish this group all the best and I hope they find the best avenue for their efforts.
According to an FOI disclosure on WhatDoTheyKnow…
“Please note that no eviction order was required since they were removed by
the Police under ASB legislation, following aggressive and threatening
behaviour by the squatters towards Council staff.
There is no written correspondence between the mayor office or the
Metropolitan Police on this matter.”
Of course there’s nothing in writing between the police and the dodgy plastic guttering salesman we have for a Mayor…
Other lawyers express a view that the eviction was unlawful.
The Council should be welcoming support from community groups to make good use of our community buildings. Instead we have buildings sitting empty and falling apart while community groups are either ignored or told they would have to pay exorbitant fees to make use of our buildings.
How much money has the Council wasted on legal fees and eviction actions that could have been given to community projects to bring these buildings back to life and provide the services we all want and need.
The Council are now spending a lot on 24hr security (man with dog)
Maybe Reclaim Croydon should run for mayor of Croydon in the next election?
At least they will get things done. Too many clowns in the clouds over at Bernard Weatherhill House.
It’s Fisher’s Folly, Michael. Keep on message.
No one call’s it Bernard Weatherill House. Apart from Perry. And La Kerswell, of course.
Mayor Jason Perry is very good at closing things down – libraries, community centres, debate
Don’t forget the Wellesley Road pedestrian subway (the one with a sign in the middle of the road saying “WARNING People have been killed crossing the road here USE THE SUBWAY”).
“For an ineffectual and increasingly untrusted Mayor….”? Who was naive enough to EVER trust Piss-Poor Perry?!
If Reclaim Croydon are looking for a new site to occupy, there are plenty of derelict buildings to choose from, with at least four closed branch libraries, and numerous closed school sites, but if they go for Old Palace School when that closes next month, they will probably have English Heritage, as well as Croydon council breathing down their necks?!
Its not common knowledge Jim, but Shirley Library has already been illegally occupied by known members of Extinction Rebellion and evicted via peaceful orders. Also, Broad Green Library continues to be illegally occupied with the Council seeming to be allowing this to continue as zero cost “Propery Guardians”
Big up Reclaim Croydon. All power to your elbows
Basically Perry is a bully. He can’t keep to his word so he bullies people who can. Very very weak.
If he had sorted out what he needed to when he needed to, the squatters wouldn’t have got in in the first place.
This was wrong. Croydon police have got plenty of crimes to solve and prevent, like the murder in Frith Road a few days ago. They shouldn’t have time for play-acting as the Mayor’s muscle for what in reality was a civil dispute, particularly when the occupants were known from previous evictions to be neither violent nor uncooperative
This was a closure notice not an eviction notice, didn’t give police power to evict people living there and there would have to have been a court hearing after the notice. We would have advised if told about it.
To those championing the squatters at the park café, have you actually thought this through?
It’s astonishing how quickly some people leap to defend the so-called “Reclaim” group, especially those who rarely set foot in the park themselves but still feel qualified to preach from their keyboards.
Let’s be clear, the café wasn’t abandoned. It was in the final stages of a legitimate transfer to new owners. This is a process many of us locals were aware of and even attended council meetings about. It was due to open in May. That’s now delayed, thanks entirely to a group who broke in, changed the locks, daubed “Art” on the windows, and declared themselves righteous occupiers.
Yes, the café had stood unused during Covid and due to the failures of the previous leaseholders. But when it was operational, it was accountable licensed, inspected, paying its business rates, maintaining hygiene standards, and, importantly, operating legally.
Reclaim paid nothing. No rent, no utilities, no maintenance. They squatted, partied late into the night (if you passed by at 10 or 11pm, you’ll know), and claimed to be serving the community while mostly serving themselves. Their so-called “community hub” wasn’t open weekends when the park is busiest with families and kids. Their Wednesday “litter pick” was mythical, as someone who actually picks litter in the park, I can tell you it never happened. The “free tea and coffee” on Mondays and Fridays came with a donation jar and a guilt trip. Oh and their “open mic” nights were sparsely attended and largely a self-indulgent echo chamber.
Now, because of their stunt, the council has had to pay for eviction proceedings, 24-hour dog security, and extra remedial work before the legitimate owners can take over. More delays. More wasted money. All thanks to a group who decided their self-anointed virtue gave them the right to hijack a public space.
Let me put it this way: imagine a derelict house two doors down from you. The legal sale is nearly complete, but just before contracts are signed, a bunch of people break in, spray graffiti on the windows, dump broken furniture in the garden, and start handing out instant coffee while telling you how noble they are. They ask you for donations and tell you, “this is now a community house.” You wouldn’t clap. You’d call the council.
This is no different.
So to those defending Reclaim: spare us the sanctimony. If you really cared about the park, you’d support its regeneration legally and long-term, not glorify trespassers who’ve done more damage than good. You’re not defending underdogs. You’re just enabling chaos and pretending it’s activism.
I, for one, am glad they’re gone. Now let’s back the new café owners—people who’ve played by the rules, put real money on the line, and plan to contribute something meaningful to the community. Not loud slogans, not graffiti, not hollow promises—but actual service. If you’re still defending Reclaim from behind a screen without setting foot in the park, then frankly, you’re part of the problem and not the solution. And before anyone tries to twist this into another “Bash Perry” sideshow: this isn’t about personalities. It’s about principle. Let’s finally get this café opened—for everyone, not just for those who broke in and claimed it.
Let’s temper this pompous stream of consciousness with some facts. And nail some of the lies, too.
1, Reclaim Croydon were only able to “break in” because of lax security by Croydon Council on a property that they had allowed to decay for five years, with no real maintenance.
2, They are not the “… so-called ‘Reclaim’ group”. They are called Reclaim Croydon.
3, “Let’s be clear, the café wasn’t abandoned.” Untrue. Five years (see (1) above).
4, “It was in the final stages of a legitimate transfer to new owners.” Untrue. The council are the owners. They have been seeking leaseholders, unsuccessfully, for three years. The council had only posted a licence variation for the potential new leaseholder on the caff on May 19. So that’s hardly the “final stages”.
5, The council had promised that the caff would have a leaseholder in 2023. Then again in 2024. And again for March 2025. Then Mayor Perry promised there would be a tenant by May 2025. So maybe believing the council about them finding leaseholders might not be entirely reliable?
6, “It was due to open in May.” But it hadn’t opened. See (5) above.
7, “That’s now delayed, thanks entirely to a group who broke in, changed the locks, daubed ‘Art’ on the windows, and declared themselves righteous occupiers.” Untrue. No one ever “declared themselves righteous occupiers”. You’re making this shit up.
8, “Reclaim paid nothing. No rent, no utilities, no maintenance.” You’re not familiar with the principles of squatting are you?
9, They “claimed to be serving the community while mostly serving themselves”. Untrue. And just a bit nasty.
10, “Their Wednesday ‘litter pick’ was mythical”. Untrue. Although this week’s got cancelled when Mayor Perry sent the cops in to evict them, unlawfully. Though we love the little virtue signalling here: “as someone who actually picks litter in the park”. When you’ve finished polishing your halo, perhaps you should ask Mayor Perry why the rubbish contractors that he is paying £40million are doing such a bad job that residents have to go round and clean up for them.
11, “The ‘free tea and coffee’ on Mondays and Fridays came with a donation jar and a guilt trip.” Untrue. No one is forced to donate, like you’re not forced to do litter picks.
12, “Their ‘open mic’ nights were sparsely attended and largely a self-indulgent echo chamber.” Untrue. But my, aren’t you bitter?
13, “Now, because of their stunt, the council has had to pay for eviction proceedings, 24-hour dog security, and extra remedial work before the legitimate owners can take over.” Largely untrue. The “extra remedial work” is mostly the leaking roof, which Reclaim Croydon did some work to resolve. Imagine seriously trying to charge rent on a commercial property with a leaky roof?
14, “All thanks to a group who decided their self-anointed virtue gave them the right to hijack a public space.” You don’t actually understand the law, do you?
15, And as for the deliberately misleading analogy…: “You wouldn’t clap. You’d call the council.” We’re in Croydon, mate. Have you tried calling the council?
16, “This is no different.” Untrue. It is.
17, “Trespassers who’ve done more damage than good.” That’s your opinion. Others have the right to disagree.
18, “Now let’s back the new café owners”. Told you before: they are not the owners. We are, the people of Croydon. With the caff being leased out (or not) by our negligent, incompetent council.
19, “This isn’t about personalities. It’s about principle.” Only problem with that is that Mayor Jason Perry has no principles, apart from lining his own pockets. He’s prepared to lie to suit the circumstances. Which seems to be very similar to your overly long, self-indulgent and error-riddent comment.
The feeble excuse that volunteers reopening premises that had been sealed shut for five years has delayed the letting of an official contract has been trotted out belatedly by people paid by a council we can’t trust. Without documented proof and photographic evidence, I’d take it all with a pinch of salt.
The tender for an approved café was closed to applications in March 2024. It’s now June 2025, and no reopening in sight, just continual vague promises that it’ll happen soon. How hard can it be?
Reclaim Croydon can be credited with taking the initiative while those in Fisher’s Folly and the Town Hall dither and delay. By and large, members of the Friends of Wandle Park social media group welcomed their intervention.
Regarding your comments about litter picking, Mayor Perry, backed by his leading opponent, Councillor Davis, are enthusiastic about paying Parks staff to ignore the message of No Mow May and instead cut down wildflowers and grasses and eradicate the insect life that depend on them. You won’t find them pressing those same council staff to, er, pick up litter. No, they leave that to volunteers