More than 200 protesters awoke in the heart of London's financial district today for a third day of demonstrations against corporate greed and state spending cutbacks.

After a second night camped on the pavement near St Paul's Cathedral, they huddled with cups of tea in the cold autumn sunshine as bankers, lawyers and business people flooded into the area for the start of the working week.

Sitting on the steps of the cathedral near a big banner reading "Capitalism Is Crisis", unemployed teacher Danielle Allen said the protesters would stay "as long as it takes" to get their message across.

"We're trying to educate people and to show how corrupt the banking system is," the 25-year-old from Surrey, southwest of London, told AFP. "Even if we are in a democracy most of the people feel their voice is not heard."

Another protester, 26-year-old artist Catherine Garrity, said she wanted a fairer tax system where businesses paid their share. "We want to make corporations accountable," she said.

The London encampment began on Saturday following a demonstration by about 2,000-3,000 people, as part of Europe-wide anti-capitalist protests inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement born in New York in September.

They claim to represent public anger at the damage wrought by the financial sector during the recession and at the perception that bankers are continuing to be paid huge bonuses while ordinary people are squeezed by spending cuts.