In a suburb of south Manchester, a group of squatters have occupied a flat above a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. They told the Manchester Evening News that they are looking for solidarity with the
public and are protesting against bank bonuses.
The five friends have occupied a flat above the West Didsbury branch of RBS and dangled banners near the cash machine, including one saying 'We bailed RBS out and still £1.2bn bonuses! Strike, resist, occupy'.
The bank is currently powerless to remove the banners as they do not own the flat above the branch in Lapwing Lane. The squatters have been in the property for six weeks and are facing legal action to be evicted.
Inevitably, one of the squatters has called himself Carl Marks. I'm guessing its not his real name or, if it is, his parents had a good sense of humour.
Marks told the Evening News: "Since we put the banners up they've been attracting a lot of attention.There has been a lot of focus on RBS with public money used to bail them out and the huge bonuses they've paid themselves.Since we were squatting above the bank we thought we would make the banners as a protest.
"A lot of people can relate to what the banks have done to them and we are looking for solidarity with others. The police came on Saturday and tried to find a reason to make us take the banners down but couldn't."
A spokesman for the Royal Bank of Scotland said the premises are a leasehold property and neither the building or flat above the branch are owned by the bank adding it was "a matter for the landlords and individuals concerned." There is no direct access from the flat to the branch, so this dispute does not impact the operation of the branch, the spokesman added.
The squatters, aged between 21 and 26, moved into the flat at the end of January. Three are full time community workers and two are students.Squatters are legally allowed to stay in an empty property if they did not force entry, until they are evicted by the owner.
The banners have provoked a mixed response from passers-by. Jessica Dowling, 21, from Fallowfield, described the banners as awful, but said even though the squatters have their own opinion, they are living there for free.
Iain Haslam, 29, from West Didsbury, who is a RBS customer, said the squatters have a point. "The bankers got us into this mess and they are still paying themselves large amounts of money."
RBS, which is 84% owned by the taxpayer, announced in February that it will pay £950m in bonuses to its investment bankers.
