Judge deciding if camp should be evicted from outside St Paul's says he may rule quickly and explain it later

The judge who will decide whether to evict an activist camp from outside St Paul's Cathedral may rule on the matter by the end of this week, after saying the case was both urgent and important.

Mr Justice Lindblom told a packed courtroom at the royal courts of justice that he may give the decision before Christmas and provide the reasons later.

Members of Occupy London are in court this week, fighting the City of London Corporation's attempts to move an encampment from the churchyard.

Lindblom told the court: "This is a very important case and it raises very important issues. I want to do justice and I want to do it justice. We shall have to see how we go. I might be in a position to indicate my decision on Thursday or Friday without providing a fully reasoned judgment. I'm putting it out there at this stage.

"What's possible at this stage is to give the decision and for the reasons to follow. I am conscious of the urgency of the case as well as its importance."

He heard on Monday that the number of tents around St Paul's had fallen by half during the 10-week residential protest, from 300 to 150 and possibly fewer. The judge has yet to see the camp, but said he would visit the site on Monday evening once the court had risen.

On Monday afternoon the corporation will call the first of its witnesses, Doug Wilkinson, a corporation official who, in a statement, said the camp was attracting vulnerable people. He has also raised concerns about sanitation, safety and vandalism.

Another corporation witness, expected to give evidence either on Monday or Tuesday, is the cathedral registrar Nicholas Cottam, who has provided a witness statement to the corporation but not to the defendants, protesters from Occupy London.