Squatters who had been living in a boarded-up mental health care centre in New Malden have moved just a few metres down to an empty office block.

The group who were said to have stayed for 10 days in the empty Rose Lodge in Roselands Resource Centre, Kingston Road, had moved on just a few feet by Monday.

The Rose Lodge building, which was shared by South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust and NHS service provider Your Healthcare, had been left empty for about six weeks beforehand.

A spokeswoman from South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust said an eviction notice was issued on Sunday and the squatters had moved on by 11am the following day.

Many of the squatters are now in the interconnected Charlton House and Clear House in Kingston Road.

A Lithuanian squatter dressed in smart jeans and a blue shirt ,who only wanted to be known as Karolis, said about 30 Lithuanians who were hoping to travel across Europe were in the building.

He said: “We all travel. We go looking for buildings that are empty. We move all the time.

“We have been here one week. I do not know where we are going next. We do not like working, but some of us do work.

“I like meditation. I can meditate all day. We are not going back to normal life – we want to travel. We like drinking and young life. You do not need money to travel.”

The 27-year old said he had been in the country for a year, enjoyed the fun of a squatter’s lifestyle and regularly found enough food in skips.

But he said he hoped to move on soon and was considering hitching all the way to Berlin.

The squatters are expected to attend Kingston County Court today at 10am to face eviction, but the young squatter said he was not sure if anyone would go.

He said the youngest squatter in the group was 18 and the oldest was 35.

 

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