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Hong Kong police hold up a warning banner as pro-democracy protesters fill a street and sing Christmas songs. Photograph: Alex Hofford/EPA

Hong Kong police said they arrested another 37 people as pro-democracy protesters returned to the streets in a second night of resurgent demonstrations demanding genuine elections for the citys chief executive.

The police said in a statement that protesters blocked five roads over Thursday night in the Mong Kok neighborhood and disobeyed police orders to disperse. Those arrested were aged from 13 to 76.

Police arrested 12 protesters in the same neighbourhood on Wednesday night, also after they had blocked roads.

The Facebook page of a pro-democracy activist group called Hong Kong Shield said that over the two nights protesters sang politically themed songs and held the umbrellas that have become a symbol of their movement. Some in the crowd wore red Santa Claus hats and chanted I want true democracy in Cantonese.

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The group is led in part by well-known Hong Kong singer Denise Ho, who was arrested this month during the police clearance of the main Admiralty protest site.

A police statement said authorities respect the publics freedoms of expression, speech and assembly but warned that protesters should refrain from conducting public meetings and processions by way of the so-called mobile occupation.

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Arrests as Hong Kong protests return