Tonight:
4°c
Squatters wreck £2m home of Inspector Morse
Tim Stewart21 Aug 2009
Squatters have turned Inspector Morse's once elegant home into an eyesore.
Fans of the TV series will remember John Thaw's detective character pulling up in the drive of the large Victorian house in his vintage red Jaguar.
Although the ITV drama - filmed between 1987 and 2000 - was set in Oxford, the house is in Ealing. The property is part of the Castlehill Park Estate, home to Queen Victoria's father, the Duke of Kent.
Members of the Inspector Morse Appreciation Society regularly travel to see the house, which was once worth more than £2million. But they have been horrified to find it is now derelict with boarded-up windows and doors.
The squatters have stripped valuable fittings from the house and left its overgrown gardens strewn with junk furniture and rubbish. The Poles first moved into the property's garages - former stables - last September.
When the weather turned cold, they broke into the house through a back door and up to 15 were living there until they were evicted by owner, Newcastle Building Society, just over a month ago. The society has boarded up the windows and doors to prevent the squatters from returning. Nearby residents have branded the property an "eyesore" and demanded that the building society cleans up the site.
"But now I have a total eyesore next to me. No one has ever paid attention to the elegance of the property and the squatters broke in through the back door and stripped it of piping, fireplaces and other valuable fittings.
"I have complained to Ealing council about the rubbish but they would not tell me who the owner was. I've had to use my own detective skills to even find out who owns Morse's house."
The building society says it plans to renovate the property and has hired renovation company The Haywoods Group with a view to renting it out as flats. A spokeswoman said: "The property was formally taken into possession by Newcastle Building Society during June. The Society will continue with its plans to refurbish the property and the planning permission is in place."
Reader views (7)
I am the daughter Of Mrs Allen and lived in the house for about 20 years Myself,Unfortunetly the house was was sold innitially to a property developer who had no interest in preserving this historic house only for his own fianancial gain, leaving it to fall into decay.It was such a beautiful old house and like most things today its demise was was subject to the greed of certain individuals,innitially it was proposed that with the house next door it was going to be demolised and a block of around 20 apartments built,this never came to fruition due to the perseverance of local residents who objected to this development.
This whole episode is indicative of the greed of modern society and this is the end result,hopefully if the Newcastle building society keep to their word this graceful old house will once again be resurrected to its former glory.
- Jill Allen, England, 22/08/2009 15:57
Report abuse
It isnt just foreign people that move into vacant properties, has anyone thought about why these people have been forced to live in these conditions, it isnt exactly a choice people would make if they had another option; no toilet, no electric, no furniture and metal grills on the windows. Also Jill if it wasnt for foreign people paying tax our economy would be worse than it is no they are doing the jobs that british people dont want to do.
- Kay, London, 22/08/2009 14:53
Report abuse
Jill - perhaps they could also be made to wear some kind of identity badge while they are living in the UK? How about a yellow star?
The best way to prevent squatters - stop leaving all these buildings empty, especially when there are so many homeless people desperate for somewhere to live.
- Nolan, Londonist, 21/08/2009 14:51
Report abuse
I endorse Jill's view. Proof of residence should be a prerequisite of admission to this country.
- Volpone, London, London, 21/08/2009 13:56
Report abuse
Simple solution to deter scumbags - seal properties PROPERLY and inspect them (with guard dogs if necessary) on a weekly basis, period.
- Ted, London, 21/08/2009 12:45
Report abuse
"The Poles first moved into the property's garages - former stables - last September".
We must have a new law within the EC rules that states that nobody is allowed into the UK unless they provide advance, ie one month before entry, notice of the address that they will staying and this is verified by a local authority as habitable, otherwise no entry - end off.
- Jill, London, England, 21/08/2009 12:00
Report abuse
The law governing "squatters rights" (or Adverse Possession to use the correct name) should be repealed. It´s an archaic law that has it´s origins during the reign of Henry I. Squatters are trespassers, pure and simple.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands, 21/08/2009 11:27
Report abuse
