Christians St Paul's Occupy
A woman prays as riot police remove protesters from the Occupy encampment on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral (REUTERS/Dylan Martinez)

St Paul's Cathedral officials deny they told police to remove people from the building's steps during an eviction of the Occupy London camp, after Christians were dragged away while praying.

Occupy London activists accused the cathedral chapter of "collusion" with the police in the eviction in the early hours of 28 February, with others saying that police were on a balcony above the entrance.

Police dragged protesters and supporters of the Occupy London activists being evicted off of the cathedral's steps leading up the entrance.

Those removed included Christians who were praying.

"The police did not ask for permission from us regarding any aspect of the action but we were clear that we would not stand in the way of the legal process or prevent the police from taking the steps they needed to deal with the situation in an orderly and peaceful manner," a spokesman for the cathedral said.

No police were given entry to the cathedral during the eviction either, the spokesman told IBTimes UK.

"St Paul's had requested that protesters be removed from the [cathedral's] steps. That is not part of the court order at all. They did not have to do that," Ronan McNern, Occupy London spokesman, had alleged.

McNern also said the cathedral were "up to their eyes" in the legal action by the City of London Corporation, which governs the Square Mile in which St Paul's sits, to have the protest camp removed - though remained anonymous throughout.

At the high court in December during an eviction hearing brought by the corporation, St Paul's Cathedral acted as a witness.

The chapter told the court that it did not want to bring legal action itself because it was "looking for a peaceful outcome and legal action might require some sort of enforcement".

London