Hong Kong police arrest two protest leaders

Seven police officers have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm for allegedly beating a protester during the Hong Kong riots, according to local media reports.

The arrests come after a video of Ken Tsang being attacked near the Admiralty protest camp emerged last month.

All the officers had already been suspended from duty.

Read more: Video appears to show Hong Kong police beating protester

Hong Kong police have arrested two student leaders of the pro-democracy protests.

Joshua Wong and Lester Shum were held by officers, who attempted to clear hundreds of protesters overnight after obtaining a court order.

Riot police demolished barricades which have been up since the protests began in September, allowing roads to open again.

Eighty court-appointed bailiffs wearing red caps and "I love Hong Kong" T-shirts began clearing metal and wooden barricades where hundreds of tents had been erected.

But defiant protesters, whose symbol has become the umbrella, vowed to stay put as talks with the government remain unresolved.

Dozens of people were injured in clashes over the weekend in the densely populated Mong Kok district of Hong Kong.

Read: Fresh clashes between Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and police

Local media said 22 police officers were injured over the weekend and four people were arrested for assault.

This morning, calm has been been restored, and protesters remain on the streets. Talks between student protesters and the government are scheduled tomorrow and will be broadcast live. Student Woody Wong, one of those camped out overnight said:

More violent clashes erupted in Hong Kong overnight as pro-democracy protesters appeared increasingly willing to confront police.

The territory's 28,000-strong police force has struggled to contain a youth-led movement that has shown little sign of waning after three weeks of standoffs.

Demonstrators in the Mongkok district launched a fresh assault early on Sunday, putting on helmets and goggles before surging forward to grab a line of metal barricades.

Hundreds of police officers hit out at a wall of umbrellas that protesters used to fend off police pepper spray.

The clashes came hours after Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying said talks would be held on Tuesday and broadcast live on television.

Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have retaken an area in Mong Kok following hours of clashes with police.

Police were forced to pull back after encountering thousands of protesters, who are angry at China's plans to screen candidates for elections in 2017.

Eighteen people were injured in the scuffles, with witnesses claiming that police used batons and pepper spray in a bid to defend the area.

The clashes come just hours after Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying offered talks with student leaders next week in an attempt to defuse the protests, which have raged on for three weeks.

The chief executive of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying has said he hopes talks between the government and student protesters calling for democratic change in the city can be held as early as next week.

He was speaking after more than two weeks of protests that have paralysed parts of the city.

The protesters are demanding free elections in 2017 and calling for Leung to step down, but Beijing insists on screening candidates first.

More: Video appears to show Hong Kong police beating protester

Video footage appears to show Hong Kong police officers taking a handcuffed pro-democracy protester into a dark corner before repeatedly kicking and beating him.

The man was one of a number of demonstrators knocked down by police armed around an underpass outside the government's headquarters in the early hours of this morning.

ITV News China Correspondent Lucy Watson reports:

Hong Kong police arrested 45 pro-democracy protesters this morning amid violent scenes on a major road in the Asian financial centre.

Video footage shows police using pepper spray on protesters who refused to move and officers wrestling several demonstrators to the ground before taking them away.

Protesters have been demanding full democracy for the former British colony in the wake of restrictions placed by China on the city's next elections in 2017.

Read: 'Protests made me proud to be a Hong Kong resident for the first time'

Police in Hong Kong have fired pepper spray at Occupy Central protesters as they attempted to clear them out of a tunnel which leads to the city's government headquarters.

Riot officers tore down barricades in and around the underpass hours after a large group of protesters blockaded it.

Activists outnumbered the police officers who were forced to retreat from the area. But they later returned with reinforcements.

Local television reports showed officers taking away dozens of protesters.

Protesters have occupied key parts of the city for more than two weeks to pressure the government into democratic reform.

Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has said there is "almost zero chance" China's government will change its rules for the 2017 election.