A young Maltese man has spent the past three weeks, including Christmas, squatting with the Occupy London movement in what he describes as “a social experiment”.

It was like a massive family gathering without the extended family awkwardness

Keith Abela, 21, an aspiring film-maker, has spent most of his time in a freezing tent outside St Paul’s Cathedral, where protesters clamouring for social justice have been constantly threatened with eviction.

A week ago, he moved to the warmer quarters of the abandoned UBS bank offices which were also taken over by the movement.

Mr Abela’s adventure began last month when he was on holiday in London and his curiosity led him to the site of the protests.

“The next thing I knew, it was 5 a.m. And I was sucked in from then on.”

As soon as he came back to Malta, he packed his bags and left for London to move in with the rest of the protesters, on a measly budget of €150 – most of which he has already spent on warm clothes and waterproof shoes.

“There was something that kept me here. I can’t really pinpoint what it was but it pulled me back in,” he tells The Times from his new home.

Originally, his intention was to stay until a court hearing scheduled for mid-December which should have determined the fate of the movement. But this was delayed till January, so Mr Abela decided to stay on for Christmas.

He says he misses his family back home but is having a great experience in London.

“It was like a massive family gathering without the extended family awkwardness,” he says, describing the movement as a “real version of Big Brother”.

Like the other protesters, Mr Abela is having breakfast, lunch and dinner from leftovers.

“It’s called skipping. A group of people put bags of good food, which restaurants and cafes have to throw away before closing, into skips. They also buy some ingredients from shops through donations.”

The food is then distributed to the occupiers, who spend their days discussing the problems with society and the ways in which they can be fixed, as well as interacting with each other as a community.

The movement was recently treated to a free DJ set by Thom Yorke, the acclaimed lead singer of the famous band Radiohead, who has lent his support to the cause.

According to Mr Abela, the cause is about ensuring justice through things like better regulation of the banking sector.

“I have no clue if it will actually make any difference at all,” he admits. But he is fascinated by the way the protest has created an alternative “bubbled” society, so close and yet so far from central London.

“It’s not fun... it’s much deeper than that,” he adds.

While he has been there, the Occupy movement took over another two sites. “They’re branching out to accommodate more people.”

One of the sites is an abandoned court where the protesters aim to stage mock trials against the people who have “caused injustice”. They will also be given the chance to defend themselves in front of the media, he says.

So what are the chances of the movement being exported to Malta?

“I don’t think it will. It involves detaching yourself from everything. People must really feel the need to do it. Back home, people seem happy with their way of life.”

However, Mr Abela is keen to use his experience to highlight issues which need rethinking in Malta, such as the alarming number of vacant properties.

“It’s insane how much empty property we have,” he says, adding that instead of using virgin land it would make sense to start using what has already been built and maximising its great potential.