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Ravers seize £10 million house
Last updated at 21:52pm on 31.08.06
Revellers are flocking to this house in north London.
Squatters have seized a £10 million home to host drug-fuelled raves, it has emerged.
Furious residents of the exclusive Primrose Hill area of North London say their lives have been made a nightmare since the eight bedroom house was taken over two months ago.
The occupants charge hundreds of ravers £5 each to attend all-night parties which shatter the peace of the area that is home to celebrities including David Walliams, Gwen Stefani, Sadie Frost and Jamie Oliver.
The front of the house is littered with beer cans, broken glass and used needles, while inside the carpets have been ripped up and the walls covered in graffiti.
But despite scores of complaints, police say they are powerless to act until the owner of the property gets a court order to evict the revellers.
The squatters boast that the only thing the police have done is to politely ask them to keep the noise down.
The takeover comes amid a resurgence in illegal rave parties, fuelled by confusion over the Government's reclassification of drugs and pocket money prices for substances.
Kitty Massey, whose home backs on to the garden of the occupied house, said the scale of the raves was 'unimaginable'.
'Hundreds of screaming teenagers are turning up in droves and heavy metal and rock music has been blasting out day and night.
'It was a beautiful and magnificent home but now it is a wreck.
'I am shocked that nothing has been done to stop it. I've made hundreds of complaints in the last eight weeks.
'It appears that squatters' rights are more important than my own. The law is an ass if it cannot control criminal activity of this nature.'
She said the home, which is set on an acre of land on Radlett Place, was bought by a Russian businessman last year.
Jane Anderson-Craig who lives near the house said the parties were highly organised and well-advertised.
'The squatters are charging the guests to come in and making a small fortune selling them cans of beer and drugs.
'The police say there is very little they can do and that they are at the mercy of the squatters until they get a court order.
'In the meantime the residents are suffering and are frightened to go out at night.'
The squatters have fitted metal grills over the windows and pasted a notice to the front door declaring: 'Take notice that we live in this property. It is our home and we intend to stay here.'
Inside three stages have been erected for DJs to perform on and signs have been put up over makeshift bars selling cans of beer at £2.50 each and spirits at £2 a shot.
Cans and bottles litter the floor of the house which has been 'decorated' with graffiti covered walls and psychedelic flags.
Upstairs en-suite bedrooms have been turned into communal sleeping areas where at least eight punk squatters are living.
One squatter, sporting a huge green mohican haircut and nose piercings, said: 'All we were doing was having peace parties, man.
'The police came round but they were fine with it, they just asked us to turn the music down.'
A DJ who played in the most recent party said: 'I think people have the right to party in beautiful houses with beautiful gardens.'
A police spokesman said: 'Officers are aware of the problems residents have been experiencing in regard to excess noise and are liaising with the council and residents to try and resolve the matter.'
Last week nine police officers were injured by an angry mob of partygoers as they tried to stop an illegal rave in Great Chesterford, near Saffron Walden, Essex.
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