Twitter's British landlord said on Tuesday it is taking the social media company owned by Elon Musk to court for not paying rent on its central London offices.
The Crown Estate, a company that manages land and property belonging to King Charles III, said it has launched legal action at the High Court for rental arrears on an office space close to Piccadilly Circus.
A representative said that it had contacted Twitter previously and was currently in discussions with the company.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Musk, the billionaire chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, bought Twitter for $44 billion in October last year.
He sacked half of the staff and reportedly stopped paying rent for office space to try to raise funds after taking on massive debt to buy the company.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Monday that the landlord of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters has sued the company for allegedly failing to pay almost $6.8 million in rent for December and January.
Twitter has a London office in a complex on Air Street called Air W1, whose landlord is the Crown Estate.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Twitter's signs and logos have been removed but a member of staff said the company was still present there.
Twitter UK began using the office in 2014, according to Companies House, which gives this as its registered address.
The Crown Estate is an independently managed portfolio of land, property and other assets belonging to the monarchy.
Its commercial income goes to the Treasury and the monarch receives an annual allowance of 15 per cent of its profits called the Sovereign Grant.
The Crown Estate says it owns more than 2.6 million square feet of office space in central London.
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Elon Musk through the years — in pictures
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Jared Kushner and Elon Musk watch the Fifa World Cup final match between Argentina and France. Getty Images -
Mr Musk attends model and businesswoman Heidi Klum's 2022 Halloween party at Moxy Lower East Side, in New York City Getty -
Mr Musk on stage next to Optimus the humanoid robot in Palo Alto, California, in September 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing 'Cyber Rodeo' grand opening party, in Austin, Texas, in 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk shakes hands with Brazil's then president Jair Bolsonaro, at the event Conecta Amazonia in Porto Feliz, Sao Paulo state, in 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, arrive for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in 2022 AFP -
Mr Musk attends the start of the production at Tesla's Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2022 AFP -
Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Mr Musk as Wario during the 'Wario' sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in 2021 Getty -
Mr Musk and son X Æ A-12 onstage at 'Time' Person of the Year in New York, in 2021 AFP -
Mr Musk dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai, in 2021 Reuters -
Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, at the time CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, at the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2021 Getty -
Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, in 2020 EPA -
Mr Musk leaves a New York court in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission Getty -
A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019 Reuters -
Mr Musk and then partner Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018 AFP -
From left, Mr Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky at the White House, in 2017 AFP -
Mr Musk presents his plan to colonise Mars at the International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016 EPA -
Mr Musk with then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015 Reuters -
Mr Musk with then wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in London Getty -
Mr Musk after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010 Reuters -
Then US president Barack Obama with Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010 Reuters -
Mr Musk in the Tesla Roadster electric car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, in 2009 Reuters -
Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones at the Tesla Roadster launch party in 2008 AFP -
Mr Musk answers questions about the new Tesla Model S all-electric car, at its unveiling in Hawthorne, California, in 2009 AFP -
Elon Musk in Los Angeles in 2008. Getty -
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2004 Getty
