Hong Kong authorities started clearing the main pro-democracy protest site on Thursday after being blocked for two months as part of a campaign to demand free elections.

The mainly peaceful protests have represented one of the most serious challenges to China's authority since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Hundreds of police stood by in the Admiralty district as workers in construction hats used wire cutters to remove barricades erected by protesters after a court injunction two days ago.