The local authority for the Square Mile is expected to order activists to clear their camp from the “public highway” within 24 hours. However, tents pitched on land belonging to St Paul’s Cathedral will be allowed to stay, as the cathedral is not taking legal action.

Stuart Fraser, the corporation’s policy chairman, said that legal action had previously been halted to allow both sides time to discuss a departure date.

“They have rejected a reasonable offer to let them stay until the new year, it’s got to be the courts,” Fraser said.

The tent city outside St Paul’s has been erected to highlight issues of inequality and corporate greed, according to activists.

Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson was characteristically tactful when he labelled the Occupy campaigners “crusties” at a recent charity event.

He said the fact that London had not yet removed the camp showed it was a city that upheld the rule of law, adding: “The world sees a city where you protesters have the right to make your point, whatever it is, until such time that Parliament passes a law … or until a judge frankly has the cojones to decide that they are indeed restricting the highway.”

A representative from Occupy London wrote on the Guardian website that the movement had “agreed by consensus that the camp would not negotiate with the corporation and that we would, instead, continue our stand against corporatism and issue our own three demands.”

The demands were listed as follows:

1. That the COLC publishes full, year-by-year breakdowns of the City Cash account, future and historic.

2. That it makes the entirety of its activities subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

3. That it details all advocacy undertaken on behalf of the banking and finance industries since the 2008 financial crash.

The representative added: “We are aware of our legal position and have a great legal team on board. We have every confidence that we will maintain our presence at St Paul’s for many months to come.”