Hong Kong anti-government protesters set fire to shops and hurled petrol bombs on Sunday, police said, after riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse thousands in the Tsim Sha Tsui harbour-front hotel district.

The protesters, many in all-black clothing and face-masks now banned under a resurrected British colonial-era law, had gathered to denounce perceived police brutality during more than four months of often-violent unrest.