Hundreds of demonstrators last night temporarily occupied the vital tunnel on Lung Wo Road that connects Hong Kong Island with the rest of the city, and began erecting barricades in it hours after they were driven away from the Queensway arterial road.

However, early Wednesday morning, police stormed the barricades and, firing pepper spray as they clashed with protesters, were able to reopen Lung Wo after a one-hour operation.

Like Us on Facebook

People on the ground described chaotic scenes as officers scuffled with demonstrators, wrestling some of them to the ground and forcing off the road. A number of people were seen being led away by police.

At about 10 p.m. on Tuesday local time, hundreds of young protesters rushed into the tunnel and forced riot police to retreat to the compound housing the offices of the Hong Kong Chief Executive.

Senior officers, with orders to clear both Queensway and Lung Wo, held a briefing before the clearing operation began at around 2:50 a.m., saying it was imperative that they clear the area of demonstrators since this was a major thoroughfare.

Police said the protesters had caused severe traffic congestion and endangered their own safety, and that of other road users.

After the clearance operation, which took less than an hour, a large number of people continued a stand-off with police in Tamar Park.

The night before, the pro-democracy group were able to bring in bamboo and erect elaborate barricades at Queensway. These were dismantled by police using chainsaws Tuesday morning, while many of the protesters were asleep.

Protesters saw this as "unfair," because the government had been offered Queensway in exchange for the occupation of Civic Square.

It was the impetus that prodded them to rush to the Lung Wo tunnel, from which they were again driven out early Wednesday morning.