An abandoned public building being used as a social centre for the general public will be evicted in a few days at great expense to the taxpayer.

The building at 1 Whitgift Street is at the centre of a planning controversy after residents of the area signed a petition against it being converted into luxury flats on TWO separate occasions.

The Fire and Emergency planning authority have issued an Interim Possession Order for the building which was found in a badly kept condition by its current occupants.

It has since been cleaned and opened to the public as a much-needed community space last Thursday. 

One visitor to the social centre described the way the potential of the place. “After the government released its latest budget attacking pensioners and community areas we find the expensive eviction of these premises to make a mockery of Cameron’s Big Society model.

“At a time when we need to stick together to fight the latest cuts the government has gone for the most expensive way to evict people disregarding local concerns for the community use of public property.”

The building has been disused since 2008 when the crisis first hit as bankers’ mistakes created a financial crisis which has affected millions in cuts to public welfare, health services and pensions.

“The tough reaction of the authorities to this social centre and others is a sure sign of more repression to people interested in sharing with others what they know and care about,” said Chris, who was visiting the centre for the first time.

As a new law to ban squatting is being discussed in the House of Lords, he added: “Social centres like this show how a disused public building can be put to effective use without expense to public purse. It seems that the only thing the government is concerned about promoting is projects that are run by multinational corporations in the interests of financial profit as opposed to cultural or social value”

Workshops on bicycle maintenance, yoga and dance are being run throughout the open day at the space near Lambeth Bridge on the south side of the river almost directly in front of Parliament. 

Fire stations around the country were shut down under budget cuts with some taken on by volunteers, a move which could the general public at risk, according to some analysts.