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A police officer tries to disperse a group of pro-democracy activists who were trying to block a main road in Mong Kok on Friday in Hong Kong. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Thousands of pro-democracy activists clashed with police in running scuffles in the gritty district of Mong Kok early on Saturday (local time) in a bid to reclaim part of one of the largest and most volatile protest sites in Hong Kong.

After hours of tense face-offs, with police showing relative restraint at first, hundreds of riot police baton-charged the crowds with shields, pepper spraying and wrestling a string of protesters to the ground in chaotic scenes.

Several bands comprised of hundreds of protesters, some of whom pelted police with eggs and bottled water, retreated but regrouped swiftly in other spotspots.

Many rushed to lay fresh barricades across roads amid a wail of sirens and loud chants for real full democracy.

The fresh tensions will be a set-back for authorities who have struggled for months to find a resolution to the most serious governance crisis to be faced in the former British colony since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Arrests of hundreds

The protests have simmered for three consecutive nights in Mong Kok since police staged a swift and surprisingly smooth clearance of the areas protest encampment on Wednesday, arresting more than a hundred people including key student leaders Joshua Wong and Lester Shum.

Amnesty International on Friday, however, warned the police against the use of excessive force after Mr Wong and Mr Shum both said they were beaten during their arrests.

Several reporters were also roughed up, prompting the Hong Kong Journalists Association to lodge a formal complaint and plan a protest.

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Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters clash with police on the streets