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Wetherspoons pub owned by Lord Sugar was overrun by squatters days after closing

The east London Wetherspoons pub, which is in a building owned by The Apprentice’s Lord Alan Sugar, closed its doors on October 13.

However, within days of the pub closing down, it became host to a number of squatters.

The George, which is located in Wanstead in east London, was a popular pub which was often packed full of locals, and was never short of customers.

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Unfortunately, Lord Sugar chose not to renew the pub’s lease within the building, causing Wetherspoons to have no choice but to close its doors.



Pub
Shortly after the popular pub closed its doors, squatters broke in and took control of the building (Image: Getty Images)

Instead, Lord Sugar opted to give the lease to independent London pub chain Urban Pubs and Bars, which operates in over 50 venues across London.

Shockingly, within just a few days of the Wetherspoons’ pub closing its doors for the final time, the large Edwardian building was overrun with squatters.

With he building’s new “residents” putting signs in the windows that read ‘we live here now’ and ‘nothing can be done’, in a bid to claim the space as their own.



Lord Alan Sugar
Lord Alan Sugar owns the building the pub was in but had chosen not to renew Whetherspoons’ lease

Another sign read: ‘Police know we are here – there is nothing they can do. Check back for legal notice – we live here now.’

Locals were shocked to see how quickly the pub had been taken over, with one local man explaining how, when he’d walked past the pub after it had closed for good, he’d noticed ‘all these signs’ in the windows along with ‘paper to screen it off’.



wetherspoons pubs
The brazen squatters even put up messages

Fortunately for the new leaseholders of the pub, the occupation didn’t last all that long, with the new tenants securing an emergency injunction, allowing the squatters to be evicted from the building this morning.

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