NYC mayor backs down from threat to remove protesters

Occupy Wall Street: Protesters hail park cleaning delay

Protesters tell the BBC's Laura Trevelyan that the decision is a "great victory"

Anti-Wall Street protesters have been celebrating the last-minute decision to delay cleaning the New York City park where they are based.

Occupy Wall Street activists had said the plan to clean Zuccotti Park on Friday was a ploy to evict them.

As more demonstrators streamed into the green space, there were fears of a showdown with the owners and police.

Hundreds have camped in the park for weeks, with protests against corporate greed spreading to other US cities.

The office of New York deputy mayor Cas Holloway released a statement saying: "Late last night, we received notice from the owners of Zuccotti Park - Brookfield Properties - that they are postponing their scheduled cleaning of the park, and for the time being withdrawing their request from earlier in the week for police assistance during their cleaning operation."

The statement said Brookfield hoped to "work out an arrangement with the protesters that will ensure the park remains clean, safe [and] available for public use".

The news prompted cheers from the demonstrators.

The BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says the police were standing around the outskirts of the protest and it may be that the authorities decided there were just too many people to be able to get them out in an orderly manner.

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