Squatters have taken over former council offices at the centre of a residents’ protest led by Downton Abbey star Jim Carter.
Activists moved into Camden council’s derelict housing and social services offices opposite West Hampstead train station last Saturday.
They want to turn the five-storey building, which has been empty for three years, into “London’s biggest community centre”.
Carter, who plays butler Carson in the ITV drama, is leading the Save West Hampstead Stop the Blocks! campaign against A2 Dominion’s scheme for 163 homes and wants to return the 25,000 sq ft building to community use.
The squatters’ group, Camden Mothership, has approached council bosses to apply for a lease to stay in the building. They are using computers, printers, photocopiers and phones left by the council to prepare the campaign.
A second-floor office has been turned into a community meeting room and there are plans for a recording studio, multimedia centre and internet cafe.
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