Activists chained to 
pulpit in 
St Paul’s 
protest

The women interrupted the service, shouted a list of grievances against the cathedral and read part of the Bible, according to a statement from St Paul’s.

The service was then allowed to continue as the women, one in a wheelchair, remained chained to the ornate, carved pulpit.

The women received communion, with the priests taking the service coming over to the pulpit to do so.

They also had an umbrella, spray-painted with the slogan “throw the money-changers out of the temple”.

Staff at the cathedral informed police they were happy for the activists to remain and so officers left the building but maintained a presence outside to police the protest there, a spokesman for City of London police said.

The action came as the anti-greed group marks the anniversary of its now dismantled protest camp outside the cathedral.

The Very Rev Dr David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s, said he and a member of Occupy Faith, the group’s religious wing, were leading a prayer when the women came up and started shouting.

“It will be a long cold night if they want to stay there,” he said. “I’m just sorry they have decided to do this.”

Occupy London released a statement which said it was collaborating with Christianity Uncut to call for the leadership of St Paul’s to “stop sitting on the fence and join the fight against rising inequality in the UK and beyond”.

Charity worker and Christianity Uncut member Siobhan Grimes, 25, one of the women who chained themselves to the pulpit, said she was unhappy that promised talks with the Dean had not materialised after last year’s protest.

“I think it is really important to speak up as Christians who believe in social justice and who believe in the aims of Occupy to say ‘this is part of my faith’,” she said.

Mark Clarke, a member of the common council of the City of London, whose ward covers the St Paul’s area, was elected on an anti-Occupy ticket against a leader of the Occupy movement.

Mr Clarke said: “I am appalled to see Occupy back at St Paul’s. Last time they were here they inconvenienced local people, vandalised the cathedral, and even defecated in the grounds. Yet again they’ve substituted political debate for cheap stunts and thuggery. We do not want them here.”