At the end of a tortuous week, Camilla Batmanghelidjh padlocked the gate of Kids Company, the renowned youth charity for wayward children. On Monday, when she turns the key again, she will be defying a judge and leaving herself - and her closest supporters - open to prosecution.
As of today, the charity is under orders to leave its premises under railway arches in Camberwell, south London, because the local council and the courts have decided it was an inappropriate planning use for the building. But Kids Company says it won't leave, not least because it has nowhere else to go.
The charity has supporters throughout the country and backers such as the Prince of Wales and Cherie Blair. After the murder of Damilola Taylor in Peckham, south London, senior government figures cited Kids Company as a potential model for dealing with youth offending and social breakdown in cities around Britain.
But a vociferous group of neighbours and some local politicians believe it attracts young men bent on crime and antisocial behaviour. Though Kids Company has pleaded for more time, saying it may have found alternative premises to move into in August, the residents and council say the die is cast. If Kids Company returns to the building on Monday, Southwark council will begin legal proceedings.
But the threats do not stop there. The Guardian has learned that each of the Kids Company trustees, including the chairman, BBC director of drama, entertainment and children, Alan Yentob, have been warned they will face legal action and a claim for "substantial damages" if the charity does not move on today.
Mr Yentob said he hoped the charity would be able to move into new premises in Peckham Rye, but said it should not be forced to leave Camberwell in the meantime. "It is quite improper for us to be harassed about this," he said. "There are these children's lives to be considered."
Local tenants also plan to undermine the group's status with the charity commission if it stays put. Legal threats have been made to Spacia, the property arm of Network Rail, which owns the railway arches and would have primary responsibility for eviction. Reflecting on her situation with youngsters who rely on Kids Company for education, counselling and sometimes, parenting, Ms Batmanghelidjh is bitter. "There is all this talk about planning and politics, but who is talking about the children. The people against us are determined and articulate and they have councillors on their side. The children don't seem to matter because they don't vote and neither do their parents. If people are re ally serious about dealing with social exclusion, they can't allow work like this to be devastated by petty local politics."
Amy, a 16-year-old client with "family problems" agrees. "I don't think the people who are doing this understand. But I also don't think they care."
Each week, some 400 or so 14- to 20-year-olds, most of them black and male, visit the charity's premises. Nine in 10 have no father figure living at home and seven in 10 have a mother with a drugs problem. More than half are homeless. Initial complaints about noise prompted Southwark council, in September 2000, to refuse retrospective planning permission. Kids Company fought the decision to the court of appeal after failing to get it reversed - first at a public inquiry, then in the high court.
People who want the charity moved claim clients have been responsible for stabbings, drug dealing and antisocial crimes.
The figures do not support those claims. A police analysis of 152 reported incidents in the immediate vicinity over a six-month period last year showed that only 10 directly mentioned the charity or youths associated with it as being involved.
But the fear some residents have that they could be mugged and might be stabbed is palpable and ripe for political exploitation.
Nick Stanton, Liberal Democrat leader of Southwark, said he admired Kids Company's work but believed it could have done more to keep the neighbours happy.
Mike Tyrer, secretary of the tenants' association, believes they have been unfairly demonised.
"We are not campaigning against Camilla. We fully support what she does. It is wonderful work. Who else would want to do it? But it is the wrong work for this area."
He predicts that they will prevail. "When Kids Company has gone, this will be the most tranquil area. It will again be a privilege to live here."
