Two members of Local Action - Chu Hoi-dick and Ho Loi - who have been occupying the historic pier with other protesters since Friday - applied to the High Court for a judicial review yesterday after they were ordered to vacate the pier by midnight tonight or face eviction.

The court, however, is not expected to rule on the application within a week, meaning the pier could still be pulled down during the period.

The action challenges a decision in May by former secretary for home affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping not to list the pier as a statutory monument.

The activists are also seeking a court injunction to stop the 53-year-old pier from being dismantled until their application is heard.

According to the writ, Ho's decision not to grant the pier monument status was "unreasonable, irrational and arbitrary."

"As secretary for home affairs, he did not possess the expertise in assessing whether Queen's Pier was of historical value ... he must rely on the advice given by the Antiquities Advisory Board. But the secretary's decision had gravely drifted away from the board's professional advice," the two activists said in their writ.

The board had granted the pier a Grade One status of historical value, but the move does not protect it from being demolished.

High Court judge Johnny Lam Man- hon will begin hearing the activists' application at 9.30am today to determine whether to accept it.

Chu, who will be represented by lawyers Hector Poon Hei and Jocelin Leung Siu-ling, the application for a judicial review did not mean activists would be leaving the pier.

"The judicial review is separate from what's going on at the pier. Whether the application succeeds or not does not mean people there will stop their resistance and leave," he said.

Chu said the group did not file a writ earlier because the case involved complicated legal matters that required careful study.

Tension again mounted at the pier yesterday as Lands Department officials turned up at 3pm to put up notices on railings ordering everyone to cease their "unlawful occupation" of government land by midnight tonight.

One of the three hunger strikers, Chan King-fai, 25, challenged the premise that their action was unlawful, saying the site is part of the city's public space.

"We won't accept being forcefully removed from the pier. We're determined to protect it," Chan said. He refused to say what action the activists will take if police move in to clear the site.

Lo Wing-lok, a doctor who is monitoring the health conditions of the hunger strikers along with two nurses, said the strikers - having spent more than three full days without food or glucose water - risked a dramatic drop in blood glucose levels and could faint any time.

Yesterday morning, trucks unloaded more than 10 pieces of hoardings at the site, apparently in preparation for demolition work.

The Development Bureau said the application for a judicial review will not affect the handing over of the site to the Central Reclamation Phase III contractor after a delay for more than five months.

A day after attending two heated forums at the pier, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in a newspaper article the government could not accept keeping the pier where it is, citing public interest, legal procedures and contractual agreements.