Attempts to remove a self-styled community from private land have started in the Scottish Borders.
Law enforcement and sheriff officers have appeared at the encampment where several individuals of the self-titled Kingdom of Kubala have been residing in wooded area near Jedburgh for several weeks.
They asserted they were reclaiming land that was seized from their predecessors long ago – but the local council said they were breaking the law.
The eviction order was issued by a local sheriff last week after the group disregarded a prior instruction to leave their camp.
The group has a increasing online presence, with over 100,000 followers on TikTok and Facebook, and has received global media attention.
From Ghana one individual, 36, and Jean Gasho, 42, who is originally from Zimbabwe, first arrived in the local vicinity in the recent months.
Referring to themselves as King Atehehe and a royal designation, they created an encampment on a elevated area above the town in the southern Scotland.
They were accompanied by assistant Kaura Taylor, from Texas, who calls herself Asnat.
The group claimed hereditary claims to land and declared that the Kingdom of Kubala had been established.
Local authorities initially evicted the group from the original camp above Jedburgh in July.
But rather than leave the area, they moved about a mile further out of town to a woodland area next to an industrial estate.
One member has previously said that he was "not afraid" of the notice for their clearance.
The land's owners, David and Mary Palmer, successfully applied to the courts for the group to be removed.
However, local officials said they had not adhered with an directive to leave the land by late afternoon on Monday.
A elected representative said last week that the group were disregarding the law by settling on someone else's land.
He said the landowner had been left with "no option" but to seek an ruling from the judge.
The representative said it was regrettable – but expected – that the group had ignored the deadline to leave the site.
They have rejected every opportunity to work with us," he said.
Support can be offered, but we won't sit back and let them break the law."
