Squatters who moved into a building earmarked for new classrooms have pledged to move out when asked, and promised to be perfect neighbours in the meantime.

The group of 19 have moved into a disused council facility next to St Mary’s Primary in Russell Road, Wimbledon – which is due to expand into the adjacent building this year, as part of a borough-wide school enlargement programme.

Councillor Peter Walker, Merton Council’s cabinet member for education, said the authority was applying for court orders to evict the squatters in case it needed to call in the bailiffs – but would far rather the group left of its own accord.

He said: “I’m delighted the assurances have been given – but these things don’t always work out.”

Another empty council-owned building, the former Wimbledon House school in Merton Park, has been squatted by about 20 people since November.

Russell Road squatter Manj Hothi said the group had already told the neighbouring school’s headteacher they would move when builders needed access to the site, and helped her to move furniture from the squatted building.

He said: “We are just normal people. We wake up and go to work like everyone else.”

Mr Hothi said the group was clearing up and looking after the building – with rules banning smoking inside and loud music after 8.30pm – and had stopped it being taken over by less considerate squatters.

He said the group got into the building through a broken window.

The council is in the middle of a project to provide hundreds of additional primary school places across the borough, to meet a 30 per cent rise in applications.

The new occupants of the building on Dorset Road, which has been empty for about five years, arrived in November and want to turn the former school into a music and arts centre.

This week a council spokesman said the building did not appear to have been damaged by the squatters, but the authority was going to the High Court to have them evicted.

She said an attempt to evict the group last month failed because of the large number of squatters and vehicles at the site.