Police begin eviction of Occupy London camp

LONDON - Officials and activists say police are moving in to remove Occupy London's campsite outside St. Paul's Cathedral.

The protesters said vanloads of police arrived at the site late Monday.

The local authority, the City of London Corporation, confirmed the eviction was under way and asked the protesters to move on peacefully.

Civic authorities have an eviction order allowing them to remove the activists' tents.

Last week a court rejected a challenge to the order, ruling that the right to protest did not justify a semi-permanent camp on a public pathway.

Protesters against capitalist excess inspired by New York's Occupy Wall Street movement have been camped outside the 300-year-old church since October.

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  Masked protesters are seen at the Occupy London anti-corporate protest tent camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, in central London, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012. (AP / Lefteris Pitarakis)

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  The Right Reverend Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, center, and Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, The Right Reverend Graham Knowles, left, meet a select group from the Occupy London movement in 'the tea tent' at St Paul's before addressing protesters on the steps of the cathedral Sunday Oct. 30, 2011. (AP / Arj Singh / PA Wire)