PROTESTORS who set up camp to raise awareness of climate change packed up their tents today (Aug 2).

The week-long camp arrived unexpectedly at Blackheath on August 26 and was used as a base for protests around the city.

And some businesses in Blackheath reported a large upturn in business during the week.

Zahoor Ashraf from Best-One Xpress said protestors had been buying huge amounts of rolling tobacco and houmous from his shop.

Manager of Provender vegan cafe Nadine Frost said: “My business has probably trebled over the days - it was overwhelming. It was really lively having them here.”

Protestors have also been drinking in the area’s pubs and buying goods from charity shops.

During their stay demonstrators left the campsite for various protests including chaining themselves to doors at the Royal Bank of Scotland in the city and glued themselves to its trading floor in Bishopsgate.

Elsewhere, naked protestors visited Edelman, a company which provides public relations to energy company EON, claiming it was behind advertising plans for a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth, Kent.

Nick Brown, 24, who took part in that protest said: “We wanted to highlight the fact that PR is a huge part of the crisis.”

Organisers say thousands of people had come to visit the camp, including hundreds from the area.

Around 40 people turned up to Greenwich West Community Centre on Sunday (Aug 30) to meet with the campers and one activist even spoke during evening prayer at All Saints church on the heath.

Mr Brown said: “We’ve been spending a lot of time doing outreach with local residents. They’ve been by and large very positive about this.

“With no police presence this year we’ve been able to focus much more on the climate change message.”

Campers spent today taking down the tents, litter picking and removing the contents of their compost toilets, which will now be given to farms.

Protestor Murray Smith said: “We’ll be cleaning up until we return the heath to the way we found it. Everyone in the camp is encouraged to help and leave it in pristine condition.”

Hannah Smith, 23, said: “I think it’s been a fantastic success. We’ve had a chance to build this movement into something very exciting.

“It shows what we need are normal people to realise we all need to take responsibility for climate change.”