A group of Polish squatters have been evicted from a pub owned by a strictly Orthodox Jewish community.

The men had entered the Swan, in Stamford Hill, last month and displayed a notice from the Criminal Law Act explaining their intention to live in the building.

It is believed representatives of the Bobov community, who own the Clapton Common site and hope to turn it into a community centre and synagogue, obtained an interim possession order (IPO) from a county court.

The squatters were then removed last Friday afternoon.

An IPO can be granted to an owner who applies within 28 days of being made aware that squatters are in their property.

The Swan has been empty since January, shortly after the Bobovs completed the £1 million purchase.

A representative of the Bobov community said: “We are really pleased that the squatters have now been evicted by the court.

“But the damage is far worse then imaginable. Police and community representatives were in total shock. The building was in an appalling state, filthy, radiators broken off the walls, windows shattered, floors broken and carpets ruined, walls spray-painted with graffiti. The damage is being estimated at over £27,000.”