Who switched off London's Webcams?

In just under an hour (11am GMT) one of the biggest protest marches Britain has seen in recent times will get underway as Public Service workers in particular, register their objections to planned budget cuts by marching through London. Oridinarily London is covered by a huge array of webcams streaming live on the internet - as of this momemt 10:10am GMT we here at the Flipside office can access only one camera (which is the most used webcam in London - at Trafalgar Square). The message in the image above is all that appears when trying to access the camera at Parliament Square, also London's Victoria Embankment (where the march will commence) has had its webcam labeled 'unavailable' and the same goes for Temple - these are all places where marchers will pass. The cameras on Oxford Street where no protestors will pass are working fine.  This all looks as though someone has directed that cameras be switched off wherever protestors will be gathering. If this is the case then not only is it a dreadful piece of censorship but it implies collusion between the company providing the streaming services and the Metropolitan Police. Why are they down? If you are aware of any working cameras covering the protest route could you please e-mail us here at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it as a matter of urgency with the link to the working camera! The links to those we are failing to get at present are Victoria Embankment, Parliament Square and Victoria Street

Please note that this is not a consequence of heavy demand on the camera - there is normally a 'try again later' message in those circumstance - the only working camera covering part of the route the protestors will take can be found at Trafalgar Square

It all just seems too coincidental that the webcams covering the protest route are those switched off at present whilst all the others are working!

*updated* The message now appearing on the Victoria Embankment is now -

Operational reasons?