Protest camp told to leave or be evicted

Anger over the Occupy Edinburgh camp is growing, with city centre management company Essential Edinburgh saying it is now considering legal moves to clear the site.

Members of the movement will discuss whether to voluntarily quit the square after nearly three months at a crunch meeting today.

It comes a day after the Evening News told how they had been urged to give up amid claims the protest had been “hijacked” by a “potentially dangerous cocktail” of people, with many of the originally campaigners long gone.

The change in tack from Essential Edinburgh follows a spate of incidents to which police have been called in recent weeks.

Protesters, who set up the camp in October in opposition to growing economic and social inequality, have described the site as ongoing and have not planned an end date.

Essential Edinburgh said it had adopted a “new position” which would include eviction as an option, although chief executive Andy Neal declined to discuss when and how it would be enforced.

Mr Neal said: “The situation is that we’ve been speaking to protesters between Christmas and New Year and saying ‘you’ve had a good run at this and we think it’s time for you to review whether staying is the right thing’.

“Occupy Edinburgh will hold a big meeting today to discuss what they want to do. We’re waiting to see what comes out of that.

“Eviction is now something we have at our disposal and will be one of the options we’ll be considering.”

The move comes after a backlash from business leaders who have pointed to the impact on the area.

Authorities in Bristol and Sheffield last week announced they are now taking legal action to evict protesters outside cathedrals in both cities.

Writing in today’s News, David Welch, managing director of the George Hotel, said the camp had moved from a colourful addition to the square to a problem which many tourists had commented on.

He said: “My guests are frightened to go through the square now because it doesn’t look safe. The protesters have made their point, they have touched a lot of people, but now it’s time to go.”

Occupy Edinburgh has insisted that much of the trouble has stemmed from antagonists entering the camp.

A spokesman also dismissed reports that the movement had approached the council to discuss moving into an empty building.