Protesters booted off Hampstead Heath by police

Police last night evicted Occupy activists from Hampstead Heath - less than 24 hours after they set up camp.

Members of Nomadic Occupy, a splinter group of the protest movement that created the “tent city” outside St Paul’s Cathedral, were kicked out for camping without a permit.

The activists, who want to set up camp in each of the London boroughs, put down 15 tents on Tuesday night after being moved on from an open space in Tower Hamlets.

But yesterday they were forced to move again, this time to the existing Occupy base in Finsbury Square, after police and City of London parks officials arrived to evict them.

More than a dozen officers watched as the protesters dismantled their tents and loaded their camping gear onto vans which were then driven to a site nearby.

The group said they were protesting against what they claim is the growing commercialisation of the heath, which is managed by the City of London Corporation.

One member of the camp, Tammy Samede, said: “What they don’t realise is that this is a victory for us. It doesn’t matter if they move us on after three months or 24 hours. The fact is that we were here.”

The protesters said they opposed the Corporation’s plans to force bathers to pay to use the heath’s pond and cap the number of dogs a person can walk there at one time. Both proposals were put forward earlier this year but have since been scrapped.

The City of London Corporation said the protesters were breaching a byelaw by camping on the heath without a council permit.

Visitors to Hampstead Heath were unimpressed by the camp.

Emma Digby, 27, from East Finchley, a regular runner and cyclist on the heath, said: “I don’t think they were going to be particular successful here, they are not really getting in anyone’s way. There would have to be lots of people to make an impact on Hampstead Heath.”