as part of the international pillow fight day, which has been running for the past five years, more than a hundred people fought for half an hour in trafalgar square this afternoon, to beat each other senseless with pillows of all shapes and sizes. the square heritage wardens were on hand to ensure not too much fun was had.

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the international pillow fight day was started five years ago, and has now spread to more than 130 cities worldwide. the london fight was called for 3pm this afternoon in trafalgar square, and it attracted well over a hundred participants, some sporting fancy dress, including superhero outfits and pyjamas.

at exactly 3pm the fight began, and within a few minutes, the first of the feather pillows gave way under the strain pouring feathers into the air and adding to the spectacle and madness of the event.

children, teens and adults all played together in the melee.

as more pillows popped, the duck-down deepened on the ground, and feathers flew into faces all round the square. everywhere you looked, people were laughing and smiling, whether joining in the fight or just watching.

the event was timetabled to last exactly half an hour, and despite interference from the square's security guards (who quaintly call themselves "heritage wardens"), it did so, with a countdown to finish.

but during the fighting, and after only twenty minutes, the heritage wardens, supervised by manager dean eardley, started wandering through the crowd trying to move people around, supposedly to begin a clean-up operation. as they created spaces in the crowd, cleaning staff were ordered in to throw down buckets of water and start sweeping.

this fun-busting act was also dangerous as the wet feathery concrete became slippery, while of course the pillow-fighters ran around in wild abandon.

luckily, i don't think anyone got hurt this time.

the humourless wardens were determined to stamp out any remnants of fun after the occasion, citing their draconian bye-laws to move people along. one young man stood at the bottom of the national gallery steps and practised some spectacular juggling with six white balls at once. he wasn't begging, didn't have a tent or any banners, and despite his dexterity was really quite low-key about what he was doing. but sure enough within seconds, a heritage warden approached and told him "the bye-law doesn't allow that…the bye-law doesn't allow any kind of game on the square". he stopped, sat down with a small group of friends, and asked whether they could play scrabble. (short film at http://london.indymedia.org/videos/12028)

last week i posted a film of heritage wardens in parliament square shooing away tourists and preventing filming. on critical mass last friday, i witnessed a warden physically push a moving cyclist off his bike. last saturday after a mass meditation in trafalgar square, there were reports of people being hassled and again a juggler threatened by wardens. now today, pillow fighters bugged and jugglers banned.

meanwhile, i'm still waiting for mr eardley's response re his "thorough investigation" into the events in parliament square.

i'm going to continue documenting abuses by this lawless bunch and do my best to make someone accountable. they are a disgrace to london's image of a welcoming city for tourists.