Occupy London Eviction: Bailiff Firm Confirms Questioning [VIDEO]

A bailiff firm at the centre of the Occupy London eviction controversy has confirmed that one of its officers was being questioned by police over allegations of assault.

A 45-year-old man, thought to be a bailiff, was arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage after a photographer at the Occupy London eviction claimed he was hit in the face and had his camera damaged by a bailiff.

A spokesman for Rossendales, the firm of bailiffs, said: "One of our officers was asked to attend the police station and provide a statement."

Scotland Yard said the man was being held in custody at a north London station. He has not been charged.

Occupy London protesters were squatting two properties in the City of London. One was dubbed the "Bank of Ideas" and is an abandoned office building owned by Swiss bankers UBS. The other is a nearby property squatters called the "Earl Street Community Centre".

Repossession orders were granted by a court and bailiffs moved in overnight on Sunday.

Protesters have released dramatic footage of the eviction showing a car driven at speed through protesters and carrying one of them for some distance on its bonnet.

"There was a rushing of the crowd and all of the usual standard aggression [and] violence that you expect, and the crowd remained as peaceful as it could be while defending itself," Ronan McNern of Occupy London told IBTimes UK.

He also claimed the bailiffs were not wearing identification, which they are legally obliged to do, and that police supervising the eviction did not act when violence flared up.

"A number of people will be taking the police and the bailiffs to court over this," McNern said.