Police lead away an Occupy demonstrator near the Bank of England PIC: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Eleven people were arrested amid skirmishes between police and protesters outside the Bank of England in central London.

Around 300 demonstrators from the Occupy movement pitched tents at the institution in Threadneddle Street as part of protests against banking greed, yesterday (Saturday).

Occupy London supporter David Lincoln said: “The Bank of England stands right at the intersection of finance and government.

“In the light of Bank governor Mervyn King’s recent comments about ‘vested interests’ standing in the way of reform of the financial sector, it is clear that that balance in the UK is fundamentally skewed.

“Hundreds of people gathering by the Bank of England is a powerful symbol of how things have to change.”

Occupy claimed some police officers used “unreasonable force, including batons being drawn”, as they marched around the City.

One protester at St Paul’s, who gave his name only as Jamie, said they were taking “informed action”.

He added: “There will be a walk through the city to meet some of the institutions we have identified as the beneficiaries of crisis, as the instigators of crisis from which we are all as a people, and as communities, suffering.

“We will go around and make our presence felt.”

A City of London police spokesman said the actions of officers was ‘proportionate.’