Squatters evicted from jazz club

SQUATTERS who had been occupying a former Stoke Newington jazz club were booted out after a dawn swoop this week. They were evicted in the early hours of Tuesday morning by police and court-appointed bailiffs...

SQUATTERS who had been occupying a former Stoke Newington jazz club were booted out after a dawn swoop this week.

They were evicted in the early hours of Tuesday morning by police and court-appointed bailiffs.

One of the squatters, Uri Cohen, 23, said they were woken up by a loud bang at about 5am.

"They broke the door free and the place was full of police officers," he said. "There were four or five vans outside and bailiffs hanging around."

Private bailiffs had been employed by property developer, Richard Midda, of Grainmore Ltd, to get rid of the squatters at the end of January, but they were forced to leave after 100 supporters of the protesters showed up.

The old Vortex jazz venue in Stoke Newington Church Street had been occupied since the beginning of January and turned into a social centre for the community.

The group would look for another site in London to continue their work, said Uri.

The former music venue has been boarded up. Grainmore is proposing to turn the building into a shop and café/restaurant.

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