Parliament Square protest camp broken by bailiffs' 2am raid

Protesters who set up camp opposite the House of Commons were evicted today after a 10-week occupation of the historic site.

But as 50 bailiffs went in to dismantle the "Democracy Village", some of the so-called peace campers were still resisting efforts to be ejected — long after the operation started in the early hours.

One woman fastened herself to a scaffold with a bicycle D-lock round her neck while a dozen demonstrators staged a sit-down protest in the road after being woken in their tents and forced from Parliament Square.

Their eviction came amid claims the bailiffs used excessive force to remove them with a few claiming they had been assaulted.

Len Miskulin, 59, who said he has been on hunger strike for the past 25 days, claimed he was injured as bailiffs pulled him from his tent.

"I collapsed as I was being dragged from my tent. People called an ambulance, but I didn't go to hospital. It was so stressful that I was retching for half an hour."

A female protester called Dot said: "It was shameful and shocking. Some of the bailiffs were like thugs and were very aggressive indeed. It was nothing less than brutish violence and they seemed to be enjoying sticking the boot in but the police did nothing."

Professor Chris Knight, one of the organisers of the protest which began on 1 May, condemned the "totally inappropriate rough handling" by the bailiffs, claiming: "It seems to me they've just been hired off the street. It's completely unacceptable."

After removing all the campaigners from the grassed area, 7ft-high metal fences were erected around the square — apart from the patch occupied by veteran protester Brian Haw, who has camped on the pavement since 2001.

Jan Aniker, 18, from Manor Park in London, climbed onto scaffolding when bailiffs came to the camp. "It took until 4am until I left the site," he said.

Another protester, called Dan, climbed a lorry carrying the bailiffs' metal fencing, delaying the operation by hours. Two workers in harnesses and climbing gear were also brought in to remove Simon Moore, 27, who had perched himself on top of the camp's makeshift kitchen. The structure collapsed as they reached him. Mr Moore appeared shaken but was uninjured.

Only Mr Miskulin and Maria Gallastegui, 51, from Westminster, vowed to stay camping on the pavement in front of the former peace camp. She joined the village in May but had been camping alongside Mr Haw for four years. "We're on strike for peace now," she said.

Mayor Boris Johnson has described the camp as "nauseating" and there have also been concerns about public health because of the lack of lavatories.

A spokeswoman for Mr Johnson said the protest had caused "considerable damage". She said: "The square will now be closed temporarily, during which time the site will be restored for the use of Londoners."

A spokesperson for security group Shergroup said: "We strenuously deny that any unnecessary force was used to execute the writ of possession We had our own evidence-gathering team on site at all times to monitor this eviction."