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Squatters have taken over a prominent former bank branch on Mutley Plain – as rough sleeping is set to hit a 30-year high.

Eye-catching flags and signs have appeared in the windows - on what is one Plymouth's busiest streets.

The two men inside, Phil Northmore and Ryan Roberts, claim there is nothing wrong with squatting, when there are so many empty buildings in Plymouth and across the UK.

The pair, both from Plymouth, are squatting in the former Barclays building, which closed on June 23 this year.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

A Barclays spokesperson said the bank is "aware" the building is being occupied and is managing the situation "with the appropriate care and sensitivity".

And the local beat manager for Devon and Cornwall Police added both Phil and Ryan have been "very much on board".

So what's the law? And are they doing anything wrong?

Inside the squat

Pictures show how bunting and fairy lights overhang makeshift beds on the ground floor, where customers used to cash cheques and ask for loans.

In the basement, old vaults line thick concrete walls - a kitchen drawer with a spoon inside lies open where a lone security guard used to make his coffee.

Both Phil, aged 34, and 21-year-old Ryan have spent time on the streets. Then they discovered squatting and haven't looked back.

A talented musician, Phil learnt the rules of squatting from others, then took Ryan under his wing and showed him how to do it safely and legally.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

He said: "The minute you stop letting money control you is the minute you are truly free.

"People are controlled by money, but the minute they let that go and realise it’s not the middle of the earth, the feeling is so great. You don’t have to worry about anything."

The pair, both from Plymouth, are determined to challenge the negative stigma around squatting.

An open window meant they could climb in and make it their home, reclaiming items that had been thrown out by charity shops nearby.

Although there is no running water, there is electricity and home comforts you would expect to find in any normal house - a table and chairs, a television, a lamp.

(Image: Paul Slater)

The friends were squatting in the former Retro's sweet shop two doors down, but were taken to court and evicted by the landlord.

Now they have free reign of a four-floor building, which comes complete with historic vaults, a kitchen, a bathroom, and even a roof terrace.

So how does it work?

Phil says there are certain "golden rules" with squatting.

Having spent four years in the military and served a tour in Afghanistan, he then moved to York and spent some time in Bristol. Now he is helping others get on their feet in his hometown.

"I lived on the streets for a while and then met a couple of guys who were squatters and I learnt a lot off them," he said. "How to do things, how not to do things and to do things within the law.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

"It falls under a civil law and the police are not too bothered. As soon as you start robbing things, it becomes criminal. It turns into burglary then.

"Most [of the empty buildings a squatter would make their home] are insecure with windows open, and that’s how we get in. No one comes round to check them, they just leave them."

Once Phil gets into a building he sticks up a Section 144 notice in the window. Squatting in residential buildings became a criminal offence in 2012, and squatters headed for commercial properties instead.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

Following public concern about the harm trespassers can cause, new legislation was introduced in the form of Section 144 of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act.

An offence is now committed where a person occupies a residential building having entered it as a trespasser. The legislation seeks to protect residential property owners and councils who discover trespassers living in residential buildings they own or control.

While residential property owners are in a much better position than they were, the situation for owners of commercial property is worse.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

Phil explained: "As long as you put that sign on the window you are covered. You will always get first contact with the police, but that’s a good sign because it is done then and it is out of the way and you don’t have to worry about it.

"With a bank like Barclays, getting a squatter out of one of their old buildings they’re not using is very low down on their priority list. It just depends how long they want to rush it through."

Why and how they were taken to court

Both Phil and Ryan were squatting at the former sweet shop on Mutley Plain before being turfed out.

However, Ryan explained by being cooperative and respectful they got a better deal out of the situation.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

They had been living there for about two-and-a-half months before the landlord decided to re-lease the building.

"They found out we were here and started the civil court proceedings," Ryan said. "We went to court to find out what was going on. A lot of people wouldn't, they would just move out the day before the court date.

"By going down there we got an extra seven days in the building and were kept in the loop with what was going on."

Their philosophy

Plymouth is full of empty buildings. It is also full of homeless people - a problem which is getting worse.

Nationally, this is the sixth consecutive year that rough sleeper numbers have increased. And in Plymouth there has been a consistent rise in the problem.

(Image: Penny Cross)

Both Phil and Ryan believe it makes "no sense" for buildings to be lying empty, when there are homeless people asleep, huddled in the doorways.

Phil believes a lot of those on the street just don't have the will or inclination to become squatters.

He said: "Buildings are not secure; they are empty and become derelict. They are just left. People just forget about them. It makes no sense.

"There was a massive crash in the property market but it is slowly picking back up. People have invested in buildings and are now waiting for the prices to go back up. So they just get left empty.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

"It winds me up walking around the streets and seeing homeless guys asleep in the doorways in their sleeping bags in the rain and the cold, when there is an empty building behind them. They could gain access to that and live there.

"A lot of people just don’t have the knowledge or the enthusiasm. They just don’t care anymore because they have been on the streets for so long."

As well as having golden rules for squatting, Phil says he also keeps to certain rules within the building he is living.

Ryan was on the streets taking all manner or drugs before Phil spotted him, which is why heroin and crack is banned from the squat.

"I am Ryan’s surrogate dad now," he said. "His squat dad."

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

He added: "We survive a lot from bin diving and upcycling. People believe in this concept that you have to have loads of money to live and survive. If you know what you’re doing you can live pretty much free.

"We spend very, very little money. But it is circumstantial, like if I want to make plans. I like to travel quite a lot.

"We woke up one morning and it was raining, but we got on the ferry to Torpoint, walked to the Tamar Bridge and then back again through all the fields, doing roly-polies down the wet grass.

"That cost us absolutely nothing and we had a great day. You don’t need money to do things and be active."

They have even had visitors. Not long ago a group of University of Plymouth marine engineering students knocked on the door and asked if they could come in.

"They seemed like pretty decent people so I said yes," Ryan said. "They were here until about 3am in the morning and we had an absolutely blast of a time. They enjoyed themselves, had fun and thanked us for letting them in.

"You meet lasting friends when you are squatting, if people are willing to embrace you and accept you for your lifestyle."

The law

The local neighbourhood beat manager for Devon and Cornwall Police told The Herald many squats are attached to anti-social behaviour, and it is then the police will get involved.

He added both Phil and Ryan have been cooperative, and even let them in to have a look around.

"We are unable to go in and evict them," the beat manager explained, "that is not our role.

"But if they are causing anti-social behaviour and we get complains then we will deal with those issues.

"We make the landlords aware of the issue, and it is their job to go through the courts and attempt to obtain a court order."

Plymouth-based solicitors Thompson and Jackson say although it has been widely reported that recent changes to the law make squatting in residential premises a criminal offence for the first time, this is not strictly true.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd) (Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

"Refusing to leave a property when requested by a ‘displaced residential occupier’ has been a criminal offence for more than 30 years," they say on their website, "and the theft of someone else’s electricity etc and causing damage to a property are also criminal acts.

"The new laws on squatting only apply to residential buildings, not land in general, and they only apply to those who are living or intending to live in the property in which they squat, not to transient occupiers.

"If a property you own is occupied by squatters, persuading the police to take action can be a difficult job and it is crucially important to be able to demonstrate conclusively your right to take action to recover your property. Do not be surprised if the squatters claim that you have entered into a lease with them, and be prepared to refute such claims and have the necessary proof available at the beginning."

When contacted by The Herald, a spokesman for Barclays said: "The Mutley Plain branch was closed three months ago and we are aware it is being occupied.

"We are managing the situation with the appropriate care and sensitivity."

'I feel like a king'

Thousands of people used to bank at the Barclays branch on Mutley Plain.

But it closed earlier this year after numbers using it dropped significantly.

Bosses said before its closure only 33 customers would regularly use the bank without interacting with Barclays in any other way.

And in the 12 months prior to its closure, 81 per cent of customers were using other branches.

Now it is an empty building looking for a new occupier.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

In the meantime, two squatters have made it their temporary home, until they are moved on.

With a television, music system, instruments, a table and chairs – and even electricity, it feels much like any home would.

Except that is just in one room of the four-floor building. The basement tells a different story.

Down a set of steps and the temperature drops. Wooden shelves are propped up against the walls with values of money written on labels stuck to the edges.

Around a corner and you are under the pavement of Mutley Plain itself. If you look up through a glass panel, you can see people’s feet walking above you.

(Image: Paul Slater Images Ltd)

Back up the flights of stairs – once used by ordinary people making their way to meet a bank manager in the rooms above – you will eventually reach the staff quarters.

A large kitchen leads onto a roof terrace, with views of the River Tamar and beyond.

“How do you feel?” Ryan is asked.

“I feel like a king,” he replies.