They told the police through the letterbox that they had been inside for a week.

After they came out, the squatter pictured above told Loving Dalston: “The club should be used every day and it was not. That is why we squatted it. We are homeless.”

The squatters, who said they were four but may have numbered only two, had not realised that their action could delay the club from resuming its youth activities.

When St Matthias helpers saw this morning that the building was squatted, they worried that if the occupation did not end quickly, it could delay building work,which would hampering the club’s resumption. It has been unable to find temporary premises.

They phoned the police, who sent six officers from Stoke Newington and, with later reinforcements, regained possession of the building, which is at the corner of Dalston Lane and Cecilia Road. The invaders came out quietly.

* Backstory: Youth club is out on the streets; I sold the  club; Flats future for Dalston youth club; Council evicts squatters to prepare house sale

* All pictures © DavidAltheer [at] gmail.com, and all for  sale for reproduction. Bigger format versions usually available.

* Emboldened underscored words in most cases indicate a hyperlink, a reader service rare among websites. If a link does not work, it is probably because the site to which the URL refers has not been maintained. A link in no way expresses support for any site or the ideas there expressed.