HC Deb 04 December 2001 vol 376 c233W
Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on how the Metropolitan Police calculated the number of demonstrators who took part in the anti-war march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square on 18 November. [19433]

Mr. Denham

The Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis informs me that it is established practice to use hand tally counters to determine numbers of people participating in marches in London. If the march enters Trafalgar Square crowd density measurements are used to reckon the numbers present.

On 18 November 2001 these methods identified 12,000 people leaving Hyde Park en route to Trafalgar Square and 15,000 people within Trafalgar Square.