[From press] The Elephant & Castle pub at the corner of Newington Causeway and New Kent Road has been occupied by squatters.
We reported earlier this month on plans to turn the pub into a branch of Foxtons estate agents.
Southwark Council is currently assessing an application by the Walworth Society to register the pub as an ‘asset of community value’ under the Localism Act, which would mean the estate agents would require planning permission before they could set up shop in the pub.
The pub closed earlier this year after its licence was revoked.
There has been a pub called the Elephant & Castle close to the current site since at least 1765.
The existing building was designed by Erno Goldfinger as part of the Alexander Fleming House office complex (now Metro Central Heights).
When Metro Central Heights was given listed status in 2013 the pub building was excluded from the designation.
