Squatters take over mansions

Around 30 artists, students and musicians have set up home in the seven-storey properties in London's Park Lane, famous for its super-rich residents, luxury car dealers and hotels.

The two squats at 94 and 95 Park Lane overlook Hyde Park and are just a short stroll from some of London's best addresses, including the Dorchester Hotel and celebrity haunt and restaurant Nobu.

Outside one of the mansions where he has squatted for three weeks, 20-year-old Daniel Moreira said: "It feels pretty good. It's the dream of everyone in London to live for a little bit in Park Lane."

Mr Moreira did not object to being branded a "scrounger". He said: "I think that's fair. We are invading a house. But if people come and see what we've got to give them - lots of art, lots of good energies - I think they will change their minds," he said.

The Portuguese student said the squatters, most of whom are artists, spend their evenings "jamming", singing songs and strumming guitars.

They are hosting a "night exhibition" at number 95, displaying the paintings, drawings and sculptures they have produced.

Mr Moreira, who is studying performing arts at Westminster College and works as a waiter at a local cafe, said he was saving the money he would be spending on rent to fund a year in Mozambique working with disabled children.

He said the two squats, which he claimed housed between 30 and 40 people, were different from others he had lived in previously. "There are no junkies or crack-heads in there. Just nice people," he said.

However, another squatter lashed out angrily at the public attention the group has received. He said the squatters had every right to occupy the two mansions. "It's basic human rights," he said: "It's a building the owners have neglected for 20 years that a load of artists have taken over."