STAFF at London’s only secure children’s unit staged a sit-in to protest about its closure.

Around 45 workers occupied Orchard Lodge after a meeting in which they were told the building in William Booth Road, Anerley, was closing.

Police were notified of the situation at around 7pm on Friday (July 31) and went to the scene just after 11pm to make sure there were no breaches of the peace.

A Bromley police spokesman says the majority of staff left the building by around 11.30pm and the premises were then locked.

The unit for young criminals, which had 70 employees, was closed after the Youth Justice Board ended a contract to fund 16 places there.

In the 20 years the facility was open it handled some of the capital’s most difficult and vulnerable children, including one of Damilola Taylor’s killers, Ricky Preddie.

The last remaining child was removed from Orchard Lodge on Friday but it is not yet known where he was taken.

Specialist care provider Glen Care Group bought the home in March 2006 and since then £500,000 had been invested to fund educational programmes and create a new five bed unit.

It had launched a legal challenge to try and keep the home open after the Youth Justice Board (YTB) announced its intention in March to reduce the number of places in secure children’s homes.

Speaking to the News Shopper back in April, the then director of children’s services at Orchard Lodge, Dennis Scotland, said the closure of the home would jeopardise the long-term rehabilitation of youths in his care.

He said: "Not having a secure care home in a city as vast as London, with all its social issues is utterly ludicrous."

A Howard League for Penal Reform spokesman said: “We are disappointed by the Youth Justice Board’s decision to close Orchard Lodge, the only secure children’s home (SCH) in London.

“SCHs are a vital resource for vulnerable young people who are often from abusive and chaotic backgrounds and are unsuitable for placement in young offender institutions (YOIs) or secure training centres (STCs).

“As a result of this closure, vulnerable children will now be sent to violent and punishing regimes in YOIs or STCs miles away from their families; often the journey is too long and too expensive for regular visits from loved ones.

“For these vulnerable children, reduced contact with their families will make resettlement more difficult, and will exacerbate the problems they already face.

“The Howard League for Penal Reform is currently in a High Court battle with the Youth Justice Board and hopes to overturn this decision and restore the use of Orchard Lodge.

“We have a duty to provide decent, effective care for these damaged children; in failing to do so, we create a population of damaged, dangerous adults.”

An Orchard Lodge spokesman said: “Orchard Lodge has been advised by its insolvency practitioner to make no comment whilst legal proceedings take place.

“A decision over the court case questioning the YJB's decision to close Orchard Lodge is expected to be announced in 10 weeks time.”

A YTB spokesman said she was unable to comment on the occupation because it was a staffing matter for Glen Care Group.

She added: “All of the young people held at Orchard Lodge have now been re-located to alternative secure establishments."