Inside what used to be Britain's most secure police station

Some of the UK's most notorious terrorists have passed through Paddington Green police station

Suspected members of the IRA and Al Qaeda used to be held in what was Britain's only purpose-built facility for extremists. Abandoned by the police late in 2018, anarchists from Green Anti-Capitalist Front are now occupying the Paddington Green police station.

They gave us a tour of their new home, from the underground holding cells and their blast-proof doors to the 15th storey roof.

On February 7 the group of anarchists began squatting inside Paddington Green. They intend to turn the old cop shop into a "radical community centre," as a focal point for their upcoming "week of action against capitalism" later in the month.


Green Anti-Capitalist Front are appealing for donations, and say they are "motivated by the belief that capitalism by its very nature will continue to destroy our planet and ultimately our civilisation.

"Only by ending capitalism and finding a new system, immediately, can we hope to survive in any meaningful way to the end of this century."

Do they have a wider, valid political point, or are they just trying to piss off the police? Oli Dugmore went to find out.