A group of squatters got more than they bargained for when a trio of cagefighters were shown around the office they had made their home. 

Celebrity martial arts instructor Sol Gilbert was looking for a new office when he stumbled across the squat in Circus Street, Brighton.

The terrified occupiers fled at the sight of Mr Gilbert and fellow cage fighters Pete Nemeth and Ryan White at the door.

The trio of muscle men were being shown around an office block next to the Municipal Market. When the letting agent opened the door the squatters ran away.

Mr Gilbert, who has trained Katie Price and Alex Reid, said: “I was trying to find a new office. I went round there with the letting agent and as soon as the door was opened they were all shouting: ‘Run away’.

“There were about 12 of them in there, but they all fled like rats as soon as they saw us.

“It wasn’t my building to evict them from, but to be honest the sight of me and Pete and Ryan might have been too much for them.”

The squatters, who say they are part of a group called the Squatters Network of Brighton, claimed they had been illegally evicted and accused Sussex Police of ignoring their complaints.

However, Adam Matthews, a friend of the group, said: “They had only been living there about two days.

“But there had been no contact from the building’s owners or the courts prior to Sol Gilbert and his entourage turning up. This was an illegal eviction.”

Sussex Police said they had not been involved in any formal eviction process nor had they received any complaints from the building’s occupiers.

As revealed in Saturday’s Argus the Squatters Network of Brighton has announced plans to stage a “mass squatting action” in Victoria Gardens, Brighton, in October, in protest against a change in the law.

From October 1 it will be a criminal offence to squat in a residential property, but the law will not apply to commercial properties or public spaces.