Occupy London: Protesters remain outside St Paul's

Police guarded St Paul's as protesters sat on the steps

An anti-capitalist protest in London's financial district has entered its second day, with some protesters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral.

The church square was the scene of protests by an estimated 2,000 people on Saturday, and about 500 remained overnight, but numbers have dwindled.
The demonstration was part of a global day of protests urging politicians to listen to people and not to bankers.
At dawn police were on the church steps, but moved just before it opened.
Officers had been looking down on about 70 tents erected by protesters overnight, after an earlier attempt to protest outside the London Stock Exchange was blocked by police.
The cathedral opened as scheduled at 0800 BST for services and visitors.
Saturday was promoted as a day to "unite for global change" by organisers, inspired by the US's Occupy Wall Street movement which has been going on for about four weeks.
One London overnight protester, Nathan, told the BBC: "The reason that I'm here is basically about the corporate greed. The corporations that have basically infiltrated their way into our government and the way that they make policy.
"I think if anything it's about creating an open dialogue with them. Yesterday we saw 3,000 people come down here. We've broken down into smaller groups of people, and one of those groups is looking at ways that we can start to create that discussion."
Although police did not give a crowd estimate, BBC reporter Phil Bodmer said about 2,000 to 3,000 protesters gathered on Saturday.
Hundreds of protesters had sat peacefully on the wide steps of the cathedral on Saturday, with some scuffles with police, but it was described as a generally peaceful protest by reporters.

Some 70 tents remained on Sunday morning outside St Paul's Cathedral

Police had initially said it would be "illegal and disrespectful" to camp in front of the cathedral, but they later announced they would not be moving anyone on from the site.
Three people were arrested on Saturday for assault on police officers and two for public order offences.
Another protest, Joshua, was confident the numbers would swell again, based on the US experience.
"New York actually started with 70 people on the first night. We already have up to 500 on the first night. And by the next weekend they had 70,000 at the assembly. We're being watched. So there's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't [grow]."
Smaller protests took place in Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh on Saturday.
'Disproportionate force' On Saturday evening, some protesters complained that police had become heavy-handed.
Protester Anna Jones said: "We have already seen a disproportionate amount of force by the police against protesters who are occupying the area outside St Paul's.
"We have seen people kettled, grabbed and thrown off the steps forcefully by the police. This was entirely unnecessary. None came here to have a fight with the police."
She added: "The only crime that the police can pin on people is one of having a conversation about real democracy and the unfair and unequal economic system that favours the rich and powerful."
Scotland Yard said a "containment" had been in place at St Paul's Churchyard for a time on Saturday "to prevent breach of the peace".
The global organisers of the protests said on their website the aim was to "initiate the global change we want".

There were some clashes between police and protesters, but the situation remained largely peaceful

Earlier, demonstrators attempted to set up another camp outside the London Stock Exchange in privately-owned Paternoster Square in the City, but were prevented by the police.
After protesters returned to St Paul's Churchyard, the square in front of the cathedral, officers prevented more people trying to join the protest by cutting off access points.
Several hundred protesters congregated behind the police lines and heckled officers for not allowing anyone through.
Activists carried banners with slogans such as "We are the 99%" and "Bankers got a bailout, we got sold out".
A section 60aa order - which gives officers the power to force people to remove masks covering their faces - is also currently in place in the City of London.