SQUATTERS who moved into an empty bank building in Westbourne left it in a “disgusting” state before being evicted, according to residents living above.

The group moved into the vacant NatWest branch in Poole Road at the beginning of the month and caused sleepless nights for people living in the flats with blaring music.

Madonna Viviani contacted the Echo about the situation and said she was woken up at 2am one night with her “floor shaking”.

BCP Council got involved following complaints from residents and served the squatters with a noise abatement notice.

Enforcement officers visited the building on Thursday after NatWest applied for a possession order to be enforced through the High Court. It is understood the squatters moved out of the building the day before the court hearing.

Madonna said she and a neighbour had seen the mess left behind by the group.

“They left the door open after leaving and we went to take a look inside. It was disgusting. They’d ripped the tiles off a wall and sprayed graffiti everywhere.

“When the Echo story was published, people in Westbourne were coming up to the building to see what was going on and saying ‘oh my God’.

“The music was still blaring on Saturday afternoon – they didn’t care about the council warning.

“There were quite a lot of people in the building, although I couldn’t count how many.

"The police came that day – I think they were looking for drugs.”

Madonna said the building had now been boarded up and secured.

“Hopefully they won’t come back here, but I’ve seen the squatters eyeing up the old bingo hall now,” she said.

The former Grand Bingo hall in Westbourne was closed in January 2018 after the operator decided there was not enough business to keep it going.

A NatWest spokesperson said previously that they would not be commenting on the squatter situation.

While they were occupying the building, the squatters put up their own legal warning on a window which stated the property was “our home and we intend to stay here”.

Although squatting in residential buildings is illegal, squatting in a non-residential building is not strictly a crime unless the occupiers do not leave when they are told to by a court, or if they damage the building.

Madonna said she first became aware of the squatters moving in when she heard “drilling and banging during the night”.

She and her neighbours then had to endure more than a week of sleepless nights as loud music kept them awake.

Police were called on a number of occasions but said previously it was a “civil matter for the building’s owner to resolve”.

NatWest closed the branch in October 2017, and the premises have remained empty ever since.