The owners of the former Fibbers building have criticised the squatters for leaving the building in a mess.
These pictures were taken by the owners of the property after they obtained a repossession order.
Squatters from the Barbican Community Centre group had occupied the former live music venue from July.
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They said they wanted to turn it into a community arts space, and hoped to host events inside.
Building owner Toft Green Developments, and developers North Star, which has plans to demolish Fibbers and rebuild offices and a new live music venue at the site, were given the legal right to take back the property on Thursday.
The squatters had already left by then – after they were threatened by a group of people who broke in late at night.
A spokesperson for North Star, and owners of the building, Toft Green Developments, told YorkMix: “We were very disappointed at the state of the building we found, once the squatters had finally vacated.
“It was clear no effort had gone into tidying up the mess that these people caused over recent weeks.
“Despite this experience, we will continue to support the arts and cultural scene in the city whenever we can.”
What the squatters say
However, one of the squatters, Patrick Thelwell, said they wanted to do more clearing up but ran out of time.
He told YorkMix: “On Tuesday, our representative informed [Toft Green Developments’ director] John Neal that we intended to vacate the building immediately, and were in the process of clearing it out, but would need until Friday morning to do so.
“Mr Neal chose to enter and secure the site on Thursday lunchtime, immediately after securing the possession order, not giving us time to remove the last of our property and any rubbish from the site.”
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Patrick added: “When we first entered the building, it was in a state of disrepair, with rubbish and rubble everywhere.
“Over the course of our occupation we cleared, and bagged much of this rubbish, and ultimately left the building in a much better state than we found it.
“Given that North Star purchased Fibbers for £2 million, with the intention of destroying it, we are sure they have the wherewithal to arrange for the removal of a few bags of rubbish.”