BUSINESS owners are being forced to go to court after squatters took over their venue.

Stockvale Group, owners of Adventure Island and Sea Life Adventure, had only just purchased the Clarence Yard bar, in Clarence Street, Southend, when it was targeted by one squatter who filmed himself breaking into the bar and posted it on Youtube.

The man plastered the windows with signs stating they have a right to live in an unoccupied non-residential building

The company had hoped to refurbish the venue and bring it back into use but their plans have been derailed by the squatters’ occupation.

The squatters cited section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 which made an offence of squatting in a residential building.

It also created a legal defence of squatting in a non-residential building.

But squatters can be evicted if the leaseholder proves they are an intended occupier being blocked by trespassers.

Now the company is in the process of taking legal action to get the squatters removed from the building so they can continue with their plans to bring the building back into use.

Commenting on the current situation regarding the squatters’ occupancy of Clarence Yard, executive chairman Philip Miller said: “The Stockvale Group has a proud record of supporting local homeless charities and I firmly believe that most of the folks on the street are very deserving of help, especially when you consider what we, as a nation, give away in foreign aid. I believe you have to be good to yourself, before you can be good to others.

“At this particular moment in time, we have nothing new to report. The squatters are still inside the building and we have a court date scheduled for February 22 which, we hope, will help to satisfactorily resolve this issue.

“We are waiting to refurbish the building and create jobs, adding a real asset to the area, but all that is being held up.

“In the interim, we would urge the people currently inside Clarence Yard to work with the appropriate agencies, such as the council and Harp to find appropriate accommodation and ongoing support.”