By Neal Wallace

Police have cleared the Occupy Wall Street camp in New York's Zuccotti Park.

A pre-dawn operation to remove the protestors was launched, with the city mayor's office saying that protestors should "temporarily leave and remove tents", but could return once the park was clear.

According to the New York Times, the operation began around 01:00 local time (06:00 GMT), with police announcing that "the city has determined that the continued occupation of Zuccotti Park poses an increasing health and fire safety hazard".

The BBC's correspondent in New York, Laura Trevelyan, said that the city has struggled to balance the rights the city's residents to "get on with their lives" and the rights of free speech and freedom of expression, which are written into the constitution.

She added that income and equality gaps in America are widening.

Earlier this week (November 14th), another Occupy Wall Street camp, in Oklahoma, was cleared by police.