while hundreds of thousands of people formed the official 'march for the alternative' from embankment, thousands more took part in organised and disorganised actions around the capital, including a spectacular occupation of fortnum and mason's - the piccadilly department store for the richest elite.

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as tens and hundreds of thousands of protestors flooded the embankment, the official TUC march set off at 11.39, passing downing street just before midday, and heading to a rally of endless speeches including ed milliband who favours pretty much the same cuts, just spread out a bit. maybe that's the alternative the TUC have in mind.

spotting huge numbers coming across waterloo bridge and bringing traffic to a halt as they headed east along the strand, i had a fantasy moment that they were all heading towards the belly of the beast, to demolish the city and bring down capitalism. unfortunately, the police, overwhelmed, were sending them in the wrong direction in order to feed them into the back of the march at blackfriars bridge and perhaps tire them out in case they had any subversive ideas.

heading off to search for something more interesting, i didn't have to go far. trafalgar square was awash with people clearly disinterested in the official event. a small group were on spontaneous fitwatch duty, obstructing the cameras of an evidence gathering team, and a huge banner calling for regime change was draped over the wall in front of the national gallery. rhythms of resistance samba band were playing to a large crowd, before deciding where to head for the 2.11 event call.

ad hoc organising committees had spread the idea that whatever occupations, direct actions, and road blocks that were planned, they should all try to occur at 2.11pm.

i headed up to oxford street, the area marked out by pressure group ukuncut for many events to highlight corporate tax avoidance. the ukuncut campaign inspires local groups to target shops and organisations from a list of major tax dodgers, demonstrating a clear and real alternative to the austerity cuts - simply making the corporations and banks pay their dues as we are 'all in it together'.

top shop was already a small military zone, with dozens of fully-kitted riot police guarding it while flares and smoke were set off off outside the closed shop, and eggs, paint bombs and other occasional missiles made contact with its glass frontage.

one of the shops targetted was british home stores, part of phillip green's empire. he avoids paying huge amounts of uk tax by putting businesses in his wife's name while she nominally resides in the monaco tax haven. while more than a dozen people staged a sit-in within the store, dozens took up position outside and staged arts events, making the link between the money lost to mr green's swindle and the money cut from arts budgets.

veteran actor timothy west, staged a short play with his son sam, in which he played the evil capitalist, arrogantly defending his position and refusing to pay his fair dues.

meanwhile, protestors were roughly ejected from the store by police and security, while security guards tried to prevent cameras from documenting the process.

a small group of black bloc passed by, and cocked up a little by throwing eggs and paint bombs at the police and at the front of the shop, not realising that in doing so they were also showering the protestors with their unwelcome gifts. some riot squad units came chasing them down oxford street providing a surreal spectacle for many ordinary shoppers and tourists who seemed blissfully unaware of the uk 'day of rage'.

adding to the surreal goings-on were a small group of elves hopping around, and some clown army types who posed near riot cops, not to mention the huge trojan horse which arrived at oxford circus. the horse, fashioned from sack-coloured fabric on a vast wooden frame, had begun its journey in kennington and then broke free from the TUC march, cantering up regent street before taking up position right in the middle of the oxford street junction.

while the samba band played outside the closed 'top shop' store, not far away, small groups of black bloc smashed windows of particularly decadent bond street stores and clashed with riot police in mayfair.

i decided to take a quick peek at the 'official' events in hyde park, but as speakers droned on from the main stage, it looked like the crowd was quickly dispersing and leaving in droves, some making their way into oxford street, while others filled pubs and food outlets, and stretched the transport infrastructure to the limit.

back at oxford circus, i counted a couple of dozen vans of fully kitted riot police sitting in the back streets, and as news went out of a possible impending kettle, the samba band moved off down regent street a little after 4pm, while a large crowd of ukuncut supporters headed off to their 'secret target' which turned out to be the elite piccadilly 'fortnum and masons' department store.

'fortnum and masons' is owned by 'whittington investments' which has a 54% stake in 'associated british foods', producers of ryvita, kingsmill, and who are also owners of primark. 'associated british foods' are believed to have dodged more than £40 million in tax. the piccadilly store is a favourite of the royals and the super-rich and they sell luxury picnic hampers for the princely sum of £25,000 - which is more than the yearly salary of an NHS nurse, but clearly just a picnic in the park for some.

at the piccadilly store, more than a hundred people managed to enter, and took up positions on the very posh stairs and balconies and among the very expensive foods and fineries. as police struggled to close the doors, other protestors climbed on to the overhead canopy and put up banners, chalked slogans on the wall, and danced and cavorted.

there were some scuffles as riot police tried to secure the area in front of the shop, but it was generally peaceful and even good-natured, and some who left the occupation early were allowed to go, while dozens stayed inside, singing protest songs and staging games.

the people on the roof climbed down after about 40 minutes. they were helped by the crowd, and escaped without arrest, although most were unmasked and easily identifiable, so may be the target of police intelligence later. i considered hiding faces in my pics, but there were just so many cameras there as well as police surveillance, that i am certain the police will not be helped by my shots one bit.

while all this was going on, piccadilly was still full of marchers struggling towards hyde park before it was due to finish. as they passed, the general atmosphere was one of support and excitement.

article continues part two here