A group of squatters who took over an expensive London building - complete with a penthouse - so they could serve the homeless lunch on Christmas Day are being removed by bailiffs.

The 40-strong group, who call themselves The Love Activists, took over a five-storey Victorian building in Trafalgar Square in London to protest against the growing number of homeless people in Britain.

The expensive grade II listed five-storey building called Cavell House has a secure vault in the basement and dozens of rooms.

Bailiffs were at the property in Charing Cross Road this morning to try and evict the squatters. Around 30 people have been evicted, with two squatters seen teetering on the edge of the building's impressive balconies. Several more are believed to be hiding inside.

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Squatters calling themselves Love Activists were seen sitting on a balcony as bailiffs tried to remove them from an empty five-storey building in central London, protesting against the number of homeless people

Dozens of squatters were removed by bailiffs, supported by police this morning, from the London building

Police taped off the road and confirmed they had been called to assist the bailiffs and no arrests had been made so far.

Scotland Yard said tonight 'On the instruction of the bailiffs, all but two of the people inside left the building.

'A man and a woman, believed to be in their twenties, were on a balcony for a period of time.

'The woman has since come down but the man currently remains on the balcony.'

Shortly before 2pm a man, believed to be one of the squatters, appeared to be attempting to talk the couple down.

Three police officers were later spotted trying to get them to come down from the balcony.

The couple on the balcony were spotted kissing and calling for supporters below to bring them a cigarette lighter.

The building had been covered in banners bearing the name 'Love Activists' put up by the group, who claim they have decided to take over in protest at the housing crisis. Tomorrow they had planned to invite the homeless and cook them a free Christmas lunch at the building.

Pete Phoenix, 44, one of the Love Activist squatters, who like the rest claim to be homeless, said: 'We're a group of homeless who decided to do a Christmas dinner for street homeless and other squatters.

'The police have thrown most of us out but we are going to stay here as long as possible. We will get back in.

Around 30 police filled Charing Cross Road to help bailiffs remove protesters from the Victorian building

A couple were seen on one of the balconies of the building and are believed to be the last remaining

Police and squatters gathered outside the entrance to the five-storey building this morning

The Love Activists branded the building Love HQ and the remaining couple were seen kissing (right)

'If we don't we'll be back on the street or we will find another squat.'

Love Activist Steve said: 'We were told we could stay here until December 29 when we had a court hearing. But they came in and said we were leaving or were getting dragged out and said they had got an injunction.

'But they didn't show us any identification or papers. No one even knows who owns the building. The last company who owned it was liquidated.'

The squatters were said to have their legal team at the High Court tonight trying to get the injunction on them varied so they could stay in the building.

The building used to be home to National Westminster Bank and was previously leased to RBS and has been left empty since 2013 when the banking group handed it back to its owners.

This is listed as a company called Greencap Ltd, a Jersey company that according to Land Registry documents appears to have been dissolved.

The squatters decided to target the former RBS HQ because the bank was one of the institutions bailed out by the taxpayer during the financial crisis.

A statement on the group's Facebook page said: 'Love Activists and Squatter and Homeless Autonomy (SHA) have seized a disused RBS bank abandoned for two years in the heart of Westminster; a building that has been taken by the people, for the people.

The listed building in Trafalgar Square has been empty since last year and was taken over by squatters

Officers said they were called to the building (left) to prevent a breach of the peace by protesters (right)

Dozens of squatters were being removed from the building in Trafalgar Square this morning

Police were called to help bailiffs remove squatters this morning, and one was seen standing on a balcony

The squatters had planned to invite other homeless people inside the building tomorrow for Christmas lunch

'RBS was bailed out £46 billion by the taxpayer, equating a loss of £1500 per UK taxpayer. This means RBS are 82% owned by the people of the UK. This is a public repossession.

'Despite the 1.5 million empty buildings there are 110,000 homeless people in the UK this winter, and squatting is a direct solution to this housing crisis.'

The protesters said they were keen to break back into the building and were trying to gather support on social media.

One said: 'We will gather enough people and we will rush the bank again.

Police taped off Charing Cross road as officials removed the squatters and said there had been no arrests

The protesters said they had been wanting to help people who had been left homeless over Christmas

Banners put up over the building protest against homelessness and have been displayed by the group

Love Activists, a group of around 40 squatters, took over the Victorian listed building on Saturday

Love Activists said they targeted the RBS building because the bank was bailed out by taxpayers and thousands of people in England are still struggling to find a home, with 110,000 homeless last year

'We will get about 500 people here and we are going back through the doors and into the building.'

Squatters moved into the building in Charing Cross road on Saturday and the doors are now bolted with padlocks and planks of wood.

GROUP PROTESTS BY SQUATTING AS HOMELESSNESS RISES Last year 112,070 people declared themselves homeless in England. The number of homeless people has increased by 26 per cent in four years. More people are sleeping rough in London, with 6,437 on the streets last year. This was an increase of eight per cent compared to two years before. Last year more people aged 25-44 declared themselves homeless than any other age group. Government figures predict 93,000 children in Britain - the equivalent to three in every school - will spend this Christmas homeless. Advertisement

Other banners said 'Seized by the people for the people.'

As well as the Christmas lunch the group also planned to hold workshops for the homeless, including one called 'How to squat.'

They are also advertising on their Facebook page for donations of food, tools, sleeping equipment and pots and pans so they can help as many homeless people as possible over Christmas.

Organisers posted a link to a page where people can make online donations, but wrote: 'We would prefer non-financial donations, as we all know money corrupts.'

Squatting is a problem in London.

Earlier this year a group took over a £3million grade II listed building in Southwark in South London.

The building had been dubbed Britain's most expensive council house and was quickly covered with banners saying 'Homes for all' and 'Stop social cleansing'.