St Paul's to hold services in private

Religious services at St Paul's Cathedral will take place later but in private after the decision to close it.Officials have cited health and safety concerns with around 300 protesters encamped in the Cathedral churchyard.A second camp has now been set up in Finsbury Square by members of Occupy London Stock Exchange (OccupyLSX).Clergy members will preside over the services at St Paul's, which is losing £16,000 a day since Friday's closure decision, the first since World War II.The protesters from OccupyLSX - which highlights what it calls corporate greed and inequality - had been asked by the Dean, the Right Reverend Graeme Knowles, to leave but refused.A number of the group have now set up the Finsbury Square camp in Islington to reduce the pressure on the confines of St Paul's which is home to a protest now in its eighth day.One supporter, Ronan McNern, 36, said: "We want to let St Paul's know that we have an overflow camp so we won't be stressing them out so much."It was obvious that the camp at St Paul's was expanding and expanding, and this way we can limit the numbers there and ensure there is a site there which fits within the regulations."In a statement published on the cathedral's website, Dean Knowles said Friday's closure decision had been made "with a heavy heart" but it was "simply not possible to fulfil our day to day obligations to worshippers, visitors and pilgrims in current circumstances".The Chancellor of St Paul's, the Reverend Canon Dr Giles Fraser, said he supported the right to peaceful protest but defended the move to turn visitors away."Given the strong advice that we have received that the camp is making the Cathedral and its occupants unsafe then this right has to be balanced against other rights and responsibilities too," he said.The deadlock at St Paul's did not deter one couple from continuing with their marriage plans in one of its chapels.PR company account manager Natasha Ighodaro married Nick Cunningham declaring afterwards that it had been "wonderful, really amazing" and that there "hasn't been any disruption at all".