Damning images prove the anti-capitalist protest that has closed St Paul’s Cathedral is all but deserted at night.
Footage from a thermal imaging camera taken late at night reveals just a fraction of the makeshift camp was occupied.
An independent thermal imaging company, commissioned by the Daily Mail, captured the pictures after similar footage from a police helicopter found only one in ten tents were occupied after dark.
In these shots, taken late on Monday night, the presence of body heat from humans is represented by yellow and red inside the tents. The tents that are coloured purple indicate they are colder and thus empty. The buildings behind are also yellow and red because of the higher temperatures inside.
The images suggest the vast majority of the demonstrators who gather around the cathedral to denounce capitalism during the day go home or to a hotel to stay warm at night.
But despite being an almost entirely part time protest, the activists last week forced St Paul's to shut for the first time since the Blitz, and the cathedral appears unlikely to reopen for months.
On Tuesday there were calls for the police to clear the camp at night when it is virtually empty. The Corporation of London has been talking with lawyers about launching court action, but so far no formal proceedings have begun.
Councillor Alex Deane said: “It is frankly farcical that most of these tents are unoccupied. It should be easier to evict part-time squatters.
“They have to go. Surely even the protesters would agree that money spent on a lengthy court battle to clear the area would be far better spent on schools, hospitals, youth groups and housing.”
Mark Field, Tory MP for Cities of London and Westminster, said: “It appears it's a daytime protest that dies off at night - so that would be the time for police to go in and remove them.”
One self-confessed part-time protester is Robin Smith, a 48-year-old former Conservative councillor for Wokingham Town Council. He said: ‘There are lots of middle-class people turning up and helping but they have to go back home and some people come once and go away.
“They've got jobs and a family to keep, so they've got to look after their kids or go to work. I go home every two or three nights to get cleaned up and then return to my tent.” The daytime-only protesters make a mockery of the slogan posted on tents and buildings around the camp which declares: “All day, all week, we'll sleep on London's freezing streets. Solidarity!”
The Corporation of London fears moves to evict the protesters could be delayed because of human rights legislation. It follows the difficulties nearby Westminster Council had trying to remove anti-Iraq War protester Brian Haw from Parliament Square.
The first attempt was turned down in 2002 in part because a High Court judge ruled Mr Haw's vigil was protected by Human Rights Act provisions on free speech. Mr Field called on the cathedral to reopen during any protracted legal battle to clear the site. He said: 'Tourists can't see one of the jewels in the crown of London and we've got major events coming up, including the Lord Mayor's Show and Remembrance Day.”
On Tuesday a giant Monopoly board appeared at the camp. Instead of the names of London streets it featured cities hard hit by the global financial crisis, and the games' symbol of a smiling capitalist wearing a top hat had been transformed into a dishevelled figure begging for hand-outs. Protesters said the board was made by secretive artist Banksy but a spokesman for the artist was unable to verify this. - Daily Mail