London St Paul's camp faces fresh legal action

LONDON (Reuters) - London city authorities resumed legal action on Tuesday to try to shift anti-capitalism protesters inspired by the "Occupy Wall Street" movement who have set up camp at the landmark St Paul's Cathedral in the financial district.

Around 200 tents have been pitched close to St Paul's since protesters were barred from the nearby London Stock Exchange last month. The demonstration mirrored a New York camp which was dismantled by police in the early hours of Tuesday.

"We paused legal action for two weeks for talks with those in the camp on how to shrink the extent of the tents and to set a departure date - but got nowhere," said Stuart Fraser, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation.

"So, sadly, now they have rejected a reasonable offer to let them stay until the New Year, it's got to be the courts," he added.

The legal process was scheduled to begin on Tuesday with a letter asking for protesters to move tents and equipment which could be followed by a court order if protesters fail to comply.

"We are getting reports about vulnerable people, cases of late-night drinking and other worrying trends, so it's time to act. It will clearly take time but we are determined to see this through," said Fraser.

Spokeswoman for the protest camp Naomi Colvin said: "I do not believe we will see police dragging protesters out of their tents on the steps of St. Pauls Cathedral."

"We have a great legal team in place and we're not unduly concerned," she said, adding that any eviction would be difficult without the support of the Church of England, which owns part of the land the protest occupies.

A spokesman for St Paul's said the chapter, or cathedral's authorities, would meet on Wednesday to consider their response.

The cathedral suspended its own legal action on November 1 after the resignation of its dean Graeme Knowles.

The presence of protesters at the 17th century church in the heart of London's financial district has posed a dilemma for the Church of England leadership.

Police on Tuesday evicted protesters from a park in New York's financial district. Around 30 people from the London group staged a protest against the New York eviction outside the American embassy in London.

Six U.S. citizens who are members of the London occupation tried to enter the embassy to speak to the American ambassador.

Adam Fitzmorris from Missouri, 28, is a student in London and has been camping outside St. Paul's for weeks.

"They evicted Oakland and the next day it was three or four times bigger. They evicted New York and the next day all Broadway was blocked. If they evict us at St. Paul's, we will grow bigger and occupy somewhere else strategic," he said.

(Reporting by Keith Weir and Naomi O'Leary)