Occupy London Pleads for Peaceful Daytime Eviction at St Paul's

Occupy London protesters are pleading with the City of London Corporation to carry out a peaceful daytime eviction if the courts give the go-ahead to the removal of the St Paul's Cathedral camp.

In an open letter to the corporation, the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, and a representative of St Paul's Cathedral, the Right Reverend Michael Coclough, Occupy London said it is "committed to remaining nonviolent" in the event of any eviction.

"We call on the City of London Corporation, the Bishop of London - who has been assisting the Chapter of St Paul's since the resignation of the Dean - and the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral to do the same and to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to safeguard vulnerable resident occupiers," the letter said.

"At a recent meeting occupiers raised concerns about the possibility of a night-time eviction and sought assurances that any action would take place during daylight hours, so as to avoid unnecessary distress, chaos and panic.

"We were disappointed that the City of London Corporation representatives in that meeting were unable to offer us any reassurance."

A spokesman for the corporation refused to comment on whether an eviction would be carried out in daylight.

The court of appeal will decide whether the protest camp has the right to appeal against the high court's decision on 18 January to evict the protesters.

An eviction would be carried out as soon as possible, the corporation said at the time.

Occupy protesters were recently evicted in the middle of the night from a squat near Liverpool Street in London.

They claim the eviction was aggressive and violent and fear a repeat of the operation at St Paul's.

The building, which the squatters named the "Bank of Ideas", was an abandoned office block owned by Swiss banking giant UBS.

Dramatic scenes unfolded with footage emerging of one of the bailiffs driving a car through a crowd of protesters.

One 45-year-old man was arrested after the eviction.

He has been bailed until the end of February.