City of London police officers and bailiffs moved in after midnight, they encountered some makeshift barricades but the eviction was described as “largely peaceful,” by the police.
Tents, still containing personal effects, were dragged from the square outside St Paul’s as some minor scuffles between bailiffs and protesters broke out.
Police said that a small minority of protesters had obstructed the work of the bailiffs and that 20 arrests had been made.
Many protesters voluntarily disassembled their tents after advice from police that they would be forcibly evicted if necessary.
The eviction comes five days since the protesters’ were refused the opportunity to appeal their eviction, after Lord Neuberger judged that the rights of the landowners superceded those of the protesters.
A trained number of legal observers were monitoring the eviction on behalf of the Occupy movement.
A police spokesperson said: “At 12.10am bailiffs employed by City of London Corporation began enforcing a High Court order for the removal of tents and equipment outside St Paul’s Cathedral.
“Officers from City of London Police, supported by the Met Police, are present to ensure public safety and maintain order.”
Occupy’s Islington School of Ideas was also evicted from its site in a disused building.
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