LONDON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Occupy London protesters have taken over a defunct Iraqi bank in the city's financial district, officials said.
A spokesman said the group decided to move to the eight-floor building that belonged to Rafidain Bank after protesters were forced to move out of an empty bank building in central London owned by banking giant UBS, the BBC reported Friday.
"This is about public repossession, taking buildings that have been allowed to lie empty in prime city spaces and taking them back for the community," an Occupy London spokeswoman said.
Under the 1977 Criminal Law Act, squatters have protected rights to occupy vacant buildings as long as no damage to the property occurred during entry, The Guardian reported.
"We're hoping that the police will recognize our legal rights and leave us in place. If that happens, the hope is to reopen the Bank of Ideas at Leadenhall Street," protester Naomi Colvin said of an educational base set up in the UBS location.
"We are aware and we're responding," a City of London Police spokeswoman told the BBC.
