The owner of a city centre property that has been taken over by squatters has claimed they have caused damage to the building.
Lottie Watts is one of the directors of Worrall Road Estates, who own 45 High Street, which is being occupied by squatters that have unfurled huge pro-Palestine banners.
45 High Street is four doors away from another occupied property and, last week, squatters at 40 High Street - next to the entrance to St Nicholas Market - were told by the courts to vacate the council-owned property by the end of the month.
It is not clear at this stage whether the property has been taken over by the same group of people or not, but a video being shared on social media appears to show the occupiers of 40 High Street moving their belongings to the second property.
And now Ms Watts has claimed the squatters are damaging the building, adding: "45 High Street is a Grade II Listed Building of great historical importance.
"The building is only vacant at this stage as we have been undertaking a lengthy and detailed process in order to gain approval from the conservation officer for change of use of the building.
"There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in order to get permission for such change of use, the building is not just 'sitting' vacant with no work to change that fact.
"These squatters are damaging the building - drawing on the outside is only a small part of this damage.
"We cannot see what is happening inside the building.
"It is appalling to cause such damage to a beautiful building."
She claimed the damage includes writing on the roof, the outside walls and in one of the windows and that they have damaged the fabric of the building by attaching the banners.
Ms Watts said parts of the building date back to the Medieval age and that they have been working with their planning consultant and the council's conservation officer to try to get planning permission to convert the property into a HMO with six bedrooms on the upper floors.
She added they bought the property in 2019, with the tenant it had leaving in early 2020.
Their aim is to keep an element of retail, Ms Watts continued, and use the building as residential accommodation while preserving its historical importance.
She added they need to carry out more surveys and that not having access to the building makes things more difficult for them, but that they can still continue their work.
"We are utterly in despair," Ms Watts continued. "This building is of historical importance and the squatters that have occupied it seem to have no awareness of that.
"They are damaging it, which is a real shame.
"We are working with a solicitor to get a court possession order and we will go from there.
"I think it is absolutely awful."
Ms Watts claimed the squatters have asked them for the front door's key, which she described as arrogant and disrespectful.
She said it was wrong this was being treated as a civil matter, rather than a criminal one, and that they left the building secure, adding they believe they gained access through the roof.
"This [squatting] is the wrong way of doing things," she continued. "The building is not just sitting there doing nothing, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes and they don't seem to be aware or understand that.
"The building is very much being used."
Are you one of the people squatting the property? Our reporter Estel Farell-Roig would love to hear from you to get your side of the story and find out why the decision to occupy the property was taken, for instance. You can contact her directly on estel.farellroig@reachplc.com
