A group of squatters who broke into an empty building and changed its owner’s locks have been evicted. 

Twenty homeless people from Lithuania, Romania and the UK were evicted from Pepi’s, a former bar and restaurant in Western Road, Colliers Wood, on Wednesday, November 28, after its owner obtained a court order.

Helen Tu, 48, managing director of Kim’s Food, bought the building in April this year and evicted her first group of squatters in August, only for a new group to arrive in October.

She said: "I asked them if they realised the pain they were causing.

"We are not a multi-national company.

"I work hard for my money and I’m wasting thousands of pounds for the court orders to come through and money for the bailiffs."

Mrs Tu wants to demolish the building and build a new warehouse to expand her business but is waiting for full planning permission to be granted.

She said: "They are right by saying they have done nothing wrong as it is legal because my property is classed as commercial.

"They asked me why I was treating them like a criminal, which is what they are to me.

"You don’t just take someone else’s things and say it’s mine now.

"That is basically what they were saying to me - I’m living here now, go away."

The squatters said they approached Mrs Tu shortly after breaking into the property and offered to pay for utilities and make the building available when needed but were turned down.

Justina, a 21-year-old squatter from Lithuania, said: "People think if you’re a squatter then you’re a scum bag or a junkie which is not necessarily true.

"There are families who live in squats and artists and musicians and people who have really well paid jobs who live in squats because that’s their choice.

"They are not bad people but that’s how squatters are framed - like an infection you need to get rid of."

The group believed their eviction was illegal because the door was broken down by a worker of the building’s owner and not the court bailiff.

However a spokesperson at the Ministry of Justice confirmed a bailiff can use necessary force to remove squatters from a building and does not have to be the person to physically break in, as long as a court order has been obtained.