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>> and now "bbc world news." america." >> we continue our coverage of the breaking news from london. the police have moved in to protesters. the group has refused permission to appeal against the high court decision to allow eviction. they set up camp on october 15. it was inspired by occupying on wall street. within the last two hours, police moved in after instruction. our correspondent is there for us outside the cathedral. you have been following this for the last few hours.

bring our viewers up-to-date. >> this began shortly after midnight, local time when the whole area that you can see over here behind me was covered with the tents of the protestors. they knew there was a court order saying they had to go. that court order could have been fashioned at any point. the police and the baliffs moved in after midnight here. and in a remarkably quick time, they have removed dozens of tents from the site. i should point out the eviction order, the clearest order was not about removing the protesters themselves. they still had the right to be here. the right to raise their voices in protest as they wish. what they did not have the right to do the u.k. courts decided was to have their tents here. consequently, they have been removed. the other thing that is happening is as you can see, there is a small wooden

structure. the last stand, they have been calling in here. it is made out of timber and a dozen or more protesters are inside. some say they have locked themselves on to some of the barricades. saying if you could move in and you could change -- cause injury and serious harm. people are saying this is their last stand. these are the poeple who have been here for many months now. this is the most committed political guys. some have been here since october. they're determined to stay here till the end. they know there will have to move on.

>> we should say that in the last two hours, the bailiff has moved in. >> that is right. protesters said they wanted this to be peaceful. they have been peaceful throughout. they did not want any major confrontation. we have been watching this closely. we have not seen any violence from any side here. i think this was a day that the protesters near the courts had ruled against them. there would tweet their messages -- there were twitter just saying this would happen. the police moved in overwhelming

numbers. it pretty much went away. as you can see, there are hard- core people here saying they will stay as long as they can. what is happening next is anybody's guess. police could work around them and that is what they have been doing. or they could move in and tried to clear what is a makeshift, hastily built a barricade. >> give us an idea of numbers. how many police are there and how many protesters, the hard core as you name them? how many are there? >> there are many dozens of police officers. well over 100. perhaps not as many as 200. there are dozens of baliffs. their job is to enforce the court order. some of them are over to my

left, there will -- they are wearing high visibility jackets. there are more baliffs and police officers. many more. more than the protestors who are still holding out there. at the moment on these barricades or looking at now. >> this began two hours ago. was there since the protesters knew this was coming their way? >> they knew that they did not know when. what happened here was there was a protracted court battle. the essence of which was the protesters say they had freedom of speech rights to be here. the court said yes, you have the right to raise your voices to be heard, to make whatever political point you choose to. it did not have the right, said the court, to set a semi- permanent camp site. this did not come up against any major issue of freedom of

speech. there were questions of planning. did they have planning permission to stay here? were they walking the public highway? it was decided that the city of london did have the right to clear this area. that is what is being done. >> i think we can see shots of some kind of coordination attempt by forces on the ground. >> what is happening now is as i have described it, this small, barricaded area, mainly a pallet and wood. what is happening is there is the first moment of real confrontation we have seen this evening. there are a dozen or two dozen protesters up there on those

barricades. you can move in but if you move in, we will continue. also saying they have said some of their numbers are locked on to those barricades. they're warning if the bailiff and police moved in, they could be causing injury. the police are moving everybody back. it looks to me as though the police are trying to figure out what to do next. they could simply ignore these last few protesters. it seems to me police moved in with riot gear, they are looking to bring a quick conclusion to all this. it appears there could be some court -- some sort of confrontation. there is some sort of negotiation going on at this point. >> as you said, the police have

had their way. the thames been moved away very quickly. what has happened to that property? doing now? >> olive it has been pushed to one side. some of it has been loaded up into the dump trucks and driven away already. i think what the authorities would say is that people have been told they were in breach of a court order. they have been told that tense would have to be cleared. the authorities are saying, it is your own responsibility now. as you did not move, what they would say is property has been for it -- forfeited. that part of it. i am looking behind me. here are pictures of this continuing. i can see crowds of tents and debris which is left of the protest.

the local government workers are sweeping up. basically clearing the site. in some areas it is beginning to look as though the tents were never hear. >> you have been speaking to the protesters there, they're talking to you about how they're feeling. are they adamant the campaign moves on and it will continue with the message they have been trying to send out to corporate london? >> they are. they're adamant about that. what they're saying is the issues that brought them here in the first place, some of them in october of last year, those issues remain. they say there is injustice, the system simply is not representative of what they say is the 97% of the population. they say they know the tents may go but they still have a right to protest here. some said they would come back tomorrow and continue. but without the chance.

there is a determination the movement will continue. having said that, listening to the case is the protesters put in the court of appeal, there were stressing their presence here was part of the protest. perhaps the most heavily symbolic part of the protest. in the sense -- it brings the argument to the heart of the matter. they say where else with their message how such potency, have such power? and straight to the people they want to affect. they are -- their removal is a setback, i would say. they have been saying all evening. there is a determination here their arguments will continue. they will continue to be heard. having said that, there was no question in court or through the city of london corp. or anybody else that they had no right to

protest. now right for their births -- voices to be heard. according to the courts and local government, they did not have the right to put up their tents in a semi-permanent dwelling. >> a chairman said everyone has the right to protest and have their day in court. but the camp is in breach of highway and planning a lot. that is their viewpoint from day one of this protest. back in october 15 when the first tent was erected. >> that is right. it is part of the legal arguments people were bringing up. there were bringing up case law and the magna carderock. going back for centuries in some cases. that is the high level arguments were not the ones that lost or won the day. the corporation argued this was

about planning commission. the camps did not have the necessary permission to be here and blocking of the public highway. it was on those grounds the local government was given permission to carry out these clearances which we have been seeing tonight. >> you have been following this for a number of months now. how many people at its height occupy that space -- occupied the space before the baliffs came in? >> at some point there were hundreds, well over 100 tents. a lot of people had gone. it was covering much less of an area that at its height. a lot of people got the message and many people were not looking for confrontation. what they're looking for was to make their voices heard and they did not want to get involved in any trouble. a lot of people -- one we got

here there were 50 or so intense still here. most of them, almost all are gone now. what we're looking at here is the last tent. >> it is approaching a quarter past two. more people are finding out what is going on. there seems to be more bodies on the ground. like you said, read police on the ground attempting to what appears to be some kind of standoff. >> that is right. there are more people. a lot of the people arriving are the media, press, people who come here to cover this as a story. there are police cordons which have been set off. you can see people here who would like to be coming in and joining the movement.

joining in solidarity. being prevented from being here. the police have worked this out in advance and they knew where they would put their blocks and there are plenty of uniformed police officers here. to make sure this is the other protest getting on to this site. >> our cameras showing inside the center area. the police attempting to get the protesters away from a standoff position. >> what is happening now is the police are starting to take more decisive action. they're trying to move individuals out of the way. that is one of the first what appears to be one of the first

arrests of the evening. there's somebody on the floor. he is to be taken into custody. >> the eviction order was based on their property in terms of the tents that were set up. not necessarily the protesters themselves. what grounds will the police beat removing them? >> the short answer is i do not know. i would suggest it could be there are being held responsible for obstructing the police. the structure they are s of the clearance order. obviously, the police and baliffs cannot move that structure while people are sitting on top of it. they have asked people to go, and they have not. probably obstructing would be the reason for that. >> you can see how they got

around that. protesters have said it was their right to be there and to protest. it is not affected by this order. the issue the people have to deal with, i suppose there is an issue regarding the health and safety of the public at large in moving freely in safeway's that the police will have to manage very carefully. >> absolutely. this is a difficult moment for the police, for the baliffs up until now. the fact is they have a safety issue here. the protesters say if they move in, that is something the police and baliffs have to take seriously. that is what they're doing. >> the first arrests of the evening in two hours of the

occupy eviction taking place. that is remarkable. the police have been swift in their response to this, breaking down those tense very well -- tents very well and trying to disperse them. that is a small crowd that has gathered where you are. >> that is right. again this started shortly after midnight. the pace has been remarkable. this has been established for several months now and the first protesters arrived in october. it is remarkable to see what really takes, a couple of hours of pretty intense activity to clear the decks here. not everyone is gone. there is still protests happening. there is still resistance. this is part of it. part of the people there making

their point. they know that the lenses of our cameras, of many other organizations, cameras are pointing at them. they will strike this thing out. that is the low point. they want the publicity. that is what they're getting. >> the protesters set up the camp. there were prevented from camping at the london stock exchange. that created a new issue for the church pose a position on protesters and their campaign. -- church's position on protesters and their campaign. there is a standoff taking place between the protesters and the police there. >> that is right. i think there was common cause between the occupy and other

similar campaigns we have seen around the world. i think to suggest they were heavily coordinated is probably overstated. i do think it is one of those things where facebook and twitter, a social media so -- a link up these organizations come up with like-minded people in touch with each other. giving inspiration to one another. to carry-on this sort of protest. not sure what we're looking at now. it seems to me the riot police are starting a much more robust cordon between them and the protesters, the holdout protestors who are behind it. we are caught in between the lines here.

it looks to me as though the police maybe making some preparations to go in and clear up the final area. the final pockets of resistance. we're going to pack up and show you. >> judging from where your position is, to pockets are developing where the police are concentrating their efforts. >> that is right. they know for this evening to be a success, what i would like to see is one rush-hour starts in the morning, people start coming through here on a very busy area on a weekday in london. almost all evidence of this camp to be gone. there are people up there. they cannot afford to -- there would not want to cause any

injuries there. it is a challenge. it is not a hugely difficult issue. i would not think at this point. it is something which is the first big problem of the evening today. the police seem to be backing off a little bit, regrouping and having to think about what they will do next. >> it is a very mild night in the capitol. i do not know if that is good for the protesters. they can stay at their lager because they have weathered the storm and snowy conditions. >> i am pretty grateful it is mild conditions this evening. i am sure if you ask the police there would like it to be freezing cold and rainy. there is nothing like a freezing

london rain to get people to want to clear the streets. that is not happening tonight. it is actually balmy conditions. there is nothing stopping those folks from staying there as long as they want. >> this place outside st. paul's cathedral has been their home and they have had -- they have been able to set up portable toilets and able to organize the tents in quite a coordinated manner. >> that is right. that was part of the whole deal. what the protesters were saying is -- what they were trying to do is make it clear to local businesses, residents, they were not here to cause destruction. they knew if they cause a bad reaction from local businesses, the residents, they would potentially have a problem even

before things got to court. consequently, there were at pains to set up their own cemetery it. there were mobile bathrooms. there were walkways. created so people can get to and from st. paul's cathedral. there were kitchen tents where anyone was welcome to come through. there was that sort of notion that there was a civic responsibility going here. it was a temporary but functional community for some months. in the end those -- finally the appeals court, it did get to the appeals court. iny simply said look, you're the legal road. it is reasonable, the court said for the city of london corp. and local government to clear this area for the good of the general public.

that is what is happening. i think for most of the protesters, they seem to be -- i would not say relaxed but resigned that that is what is happening. the notable exception of that small group which is still barricaded in a makeshift structure which you can see, i think you can see through the line of police officers there. >> we're seeing the the last few hours of this london occupy site. the thames -- tents were in place october 15. this is a campaign that has drawn in the church over there, conditional on this campaign. exclaimed -- i supposed the

protestors would consider this to be a success or development. >> they will regard the overall campaign to be a successful one. it has brought attention to the things they wanted to bring attention to. it has a lot of coverage. it has had a lot of coverage in the -- the international media. i am disappointed it has not got to this point tonight. i would not be surprised if tomorrow even after the tents are gone -- that you have a peaceful protest. as we speak now, another interesting development. some people have gone. others, the other holdouts are

being removed. we could see the final moments. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you?

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