around 250 people marched through haringey this afternoon in protest against massive cuts in local public services and community grants

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at midday, the crowd assembled opposite the haringey civic centre, and at 12.30 a van with an impressive loud-hailer system led the way down wood green hight street.

the many home-made banners shared a recurring theme. "tax the rich", "save our services, not the banks", "we will not pay for their crisis", and so on.

the march organisers, the haringey alliance for public services (HAPS) wwww.hapsnews.net, had created a map of the route, highlighting more than thirty sites along the way that would be in some way affected by current political "austerity" measures. these included colleges, leisure centres, health centres, council offices, schools, children's centres, parks, post offices, transport hubs, libraries, community centres, youth projects, a citizen's advice bureau, and projects for the elderly.

the crowd also stopped outside lloyds tsb bank, which was recently occupied by protestors to highlight their role in the economic crisis.

the cuts passed by haringey council, amounting to £41 million presently, with more to come in the next two years, will have huge effects on the local community.

a mental health crisis centre faces closure. so do four old people's homes. the youth service faces a 75% cut, and grants for many 'third sector' provisions are slashed, forcing the closure of a swathe of community projects and centres.

the march ended with a speaker's rally at the old tottenham town hall, and was followed by a cultural celebration at the bernie grant arts centre.

local people clearly supported the marchers along the way, and thousands of leaflets were given out to interested passers-by.