Today (Tuesday) the Planningand Transportation Committeeof the City of London Corporation voted to continue with legalaction to clear tents from public highways around St Paul"s.

The decision was taken after hearing legal advice in relation toits Highways Act responsibilities.

Stuart Fraser, Policy Chairman of the City of LondonCorporation, said after the meeting:'We paused legal action for two weeks for talks with those inthe camp on how to shrink the extent of the tents and to set adeparture date " but got nowhere. So, sadly, now they have rejecteda reasonable offer to let them stay until the New Year, it"s got tobe the courts. We"d still like to sort this without court actionbut from now on we will have to have any talks in parallel withcourt action " not instead."'We are getting reports about vulnerable people, cases oflate-night drinking and other worrying trends, so it"s time to act.

It will clearly take time but we are determined to see thisthrough.

'Lawful protesters who stand or walk are a regular part ofLondon. But tents, equipment and now, increasingly, quite a lot ofmess, is not what a highway is for and others are losing out. Thelikely stages are detailed in the Notes to editors butbegin today with a letter to the legal firm representing some ofthose in tents. A notice to tent users is likely to follow onWednesday.