News / Old City
Sparks fly as police raid High Street squats
Police officers in full riot gear from as far away as Thames Valley and Gwent descended on the Old City soon after 6.30am on Friday morning.
More than 100 officers joined a team of bailiffs already on the roof of buildings on the High Street that had been turned into squats, using specialist cutting equipment to force entry.
But squatters had already departed, taking notice of a closure order that had been granted to police by Bristol magistrates.
Police with helmets and riot shields entered numbers 39-40, 45 and 46 High Street opposite Castle Park, with wooden pallets and a freezer removed from 40A where it had been used as part of a barricade.
Some of the people who had been living inside the properties are believed to have now moved to the former Salvation Army building on Dean Lane in Bedminster, which is now also being used as a squat.
The remains of a barricade left on the pavement outside one of the High Street squats – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Mayor calls on housing board to tackle gentrification in Bristol
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