Riot police in Hong Kong used tear-gas and pepper spray to disperse hundreds of pro-democracy protesters on Tuesday as they stepped in to assist court officials in clearing a section of highway in the busy Kowloon district of Mong Kok.

Protesters wearing construction helmets and masks formed a shield-wall of umbrellas against police, in what has become the icon of the Occupy Central movement, which is calling for more democracy than Beijing has said it will allow in the semiautonomous Chinese city.

Thousands of police were deployed to the scene, while a police spokesman said officers had arrested more than 80 protesters.