Police fires tear gas to evict demonstrators who stormed parliament

Police firing tear gas have evicted protesters who stormed and vandalised Hong Kong's parliament.

Demonstrators had occupied the Legislative Council building for hours after breaking away from a protest on the anniversary of Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty to China from Britain.

After midnight, hundreds of police secured the building following a warning to protesters to clear it.

It follows weeks of unrest in the city over a controversial extradition law.

Hundreds of thousands took part in the earlier peaceful protest - the latest rally against a proposed law that critics fear could be used to extradite political dissidents to mainland China.

The protesters have also been demanding an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality during an earlier protest on 12 June.

Hong Kong's embattled political leader Carrie Lam held a press conference at 04:00 local time (20:00 GMT) in which she condemned the "extreme use of violence" of those who broke into the legislature.

Peaceful demonstrations had been planned for Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the handover of sovereignty.

A large-scale march, involving hundreds of thousands of people, took place in the city, and passed off in a largely peaceful manner.

But at about lunchtime, a group of protesters, mostly younger people clad in black, had earlier besieged the building, while an estimated crowd of hundreds of thousands marched largely peacefully against a proposed extradition law.

Pro-democracy legislators at the scene had attempted to dissuade them from breaking into Legislative Council, warning them they could face serious criminal charges for doing so.

Police warned the crowd they would use force and make arrests, but fell back to an interior gate before vacating the building, rather than engage the crowd. Hundreds more flowed in once the police left.

The demonstrators broke computers, spray-painted slurs against police on chamber walls and used road signs, scaffolding and metal poles to trash fittings.

Then at about midnight outside the building, protesters clad in plastic helmets and brandishing umbrellas retreated from a baton charge by riot police, who quickly overcame their makeshift barriers.

Inside, diehard protesters were pulled forcibly outside by their fellow occupants in an attempt to completely clear the building.

Within an hour, the streets around the building were clear of everyone except the media and police. Officers then began searching the rooms of the Legislative Council building for any possible stragglers. No arrests have yet been reported.