Lord Mayor's Show route could be 'tweaked'

The traditional Lord Mayor’s procession could be rerouted to avoid passing the site of the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest, a source has indicated.

The sit-in, in front of St Paul’s Cathedral, which is now said to include some 200 tents and has spread to a second location at nearby Finsbury Square, has already been blamed for the first closure of sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece since the Second World War.

And yesterday, a source close to the Show’s organisers, said: “They are pushing to do the Lord Mayor’s Show in all its glory without any changes. As much as possible it will proceed along the usual route but, potentially, there will be a tweak.”

Officially, the organisers insist that no changes will be made to the route and the source said that it would remain unchanged, if at all possible. However, he said that it was “impossible to give any assurances at this early stage”, saying it was a conversation for the coming weeks.

A spokesman for the event organisers, the City of London Corporation, told Event magazine: “There are no changes from our end, so it’s going to be exactly as the same as planned. You can rest assured that it will be as close as we can possibly get it to the normal plan. Obviously we’ll be realistic, but we’re pushing ahead with it.”

According to the organisers, the procession has gone ahead unabated since 1852, "when it made way for the Duke of Wellington’s funeral". The route has seen minor changes over the years and now passes west up Cheapside, turning left and going round the south side of the Cathedral, where two grandstands are due to be erected. It then proceeds down Ludgate Hill and Fleet Street in Central London.

Referring to the OccupyLSX protests last week, the Lord Mayor of the City of London said: “If there was banner calling for jobs that would be different, but when it’s ‘anti-this’ and ‘anti-that’, it’s more difficult to get a handle on how to respond.”

The procession is planned for 12 November.