OXFORD University has said it will seek a possession order on the former power station in Osney 'as soon as possible' due to safety concerns after a group of homeless people moved in.

About 20 people from the Iffley Open House project entered the site on Sunday after losing their former home, a VW showroom in Iffley Road.

Group members claimed squatters' rights on arrival and said they wanted to 'open up a dialogue' with the Said Business School, which is looking to develop the site.

The power station overlooking the Thames in Arthur Street has not been occupied for about seven years.

In a statement issued yesterday evening the university said: "The Old Power Station is used to store thousands of items from the collections of the Museum of the History of Science and the Pitt Rivers Museum, and a project team has been working on these collections in a separate part of the building.

"For some time we have prevented our staff from entering the part of the building which has been occupied by Iffley Open House because of a number of safety concerns, including the risk of falling masonry.

"We will therefore be seeking an interim possession order as soon as possible, out of concern for the safety of the members of Iffley Open House.

"We are very sympathetic to the plight of these homeless people who need somewhere safe to live and we will continue to speak to their representatives about how to resolve the situation.”

The Open House group they Iffley Road after receiving a final eviction notice from Wadham College, which is looking to build student accommodation there.

Having removed their belongings from Iffley Road with the help from volunteers, they moved into the building adjacent to the Thames.

The move passed off without any trouble and once inside they communicated with university security and police through a letterbox.

As the building was unused, it is now a civil matter between the occupants and the landowner.

Volunteer Tom Shirley said the exchange with police had been 'good' and officers understood the group had claimed squatters' rights.

He added: "We have said we would like to open up a dialogue with Said Business School.

"We can give them a reference from Wadham about how successful the project was."

By early evening the 20 residents, as well as volunteers, had begun to set up a kitchen area and rudimentary bedrooms in the vast interior.

The Mill was used as a physics faculty by Oxford University in the 1970s and has stood empty for about seven years.

One volunteer, who did not want to be named, said: "We don't want to stay here beyond the winter period. It's exactly the same as before, to keep people off the streets for the worst of the winter.

“In that time we will support the residents to get jobs and find accommodation."

Residents from Percy Street, next to the Iffley Road site, said they would go door-knocking in Arthur Street and Mill Street to reassure residents of the group's intentions and give their personal testimonies as former neighbours.

The group has said it will operate a strict no drugs, no alcohol policy as it did in Iffley Road.

College spokeswoman Julia Banfield said: “Wadham College recognises that over the last two months, Iffley Open House has looked after the interests of this vulnerable homeless group and we have been happy to assist by letting them shelter for several weeks at the Iffley Road site.

“However, we have made it clear from the start of the occupation that that we would need the premises back by the end of February. “