Canary Wharf Seeks Protest Injunction

Skittish City traders have banned protest camps from Canary Wharf in a bid to keep Occupy’s anti-poverty activists at bay.

External media reported Thursday that lawyers for Canary Wharf Group, plc – which owns more than half the area’s office and retail space – had sought a high court injunction barring “any persons unknown remaining on the Canary Wharf estate in connection to protest action.”

The complex is home to some of the world’s biggest banking juggernauts, including the international headquarters for HSBC, Citigroup and Barclays – making it a frequent target for tax avoidance activists UK Uncut and Occupy London’s Tent City University.

It is understood the court order is to last indefinitely.

Spokespeople for Occupy London did not say whether there had been plans to invade the Wharf, but criticised private landowners for creating “a public space in which the public is not welcome.”

“Like their counterparts on Paternoster Square, the owners of Canary Wharf appear to be deeply afraid of legitimate debate: it is worth asking why this is so,” they said.

By Rory MacKinnon