Student vandals turn second university fees protest violent

More pictures: New student protest turns violent

The main flashpoint was the gateway to King Charles Street near the Foreign Office where several lines of riot police prevented students reaching Downing Street. One officer suffered a broken arm and another was led away after being hit in the face with a missile.

The Met were reported to have made three arrests for violent disorder and theft.

The Met insisted they had "proportionate and appropriate" numbers of officers dealing with the protesters — marking their determination not to be caught out as they were when students stormed Millbank two weeks ago.

School pupils in blazers could be seen among the student protesters. Debris was scattered across Whitehall as marchers made bonfires out of their placards and wrecked bus shelters.

Students occupied universities including Royal Holloway, London South Bank and University College London. Protests were staged at universities and colleges in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Southampton, Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The coordinated mass demonstration was dubbed "Day X".

In London lines of officers "kettled" thousands of students at key points. Members of the Met's territorial support group, officers on horseback and dog handlers were seen at different parts of the protests.

A Met spokesman said: "There is containment in Whitehall to prevent further criminal damage and we will look to disperse anyone being held as soon as we can when we can ensure no further criminal damage will be committed elsewhere."

One protester named only as "Zoe" said: "A lot of people wanted to get that burst of anger out of them, but they shouldn't just vent it on police vans. It really does dampen the effort of other people."

In Whitehall a ring of girls surrounded the police van and pleaded with the vandals to come down. They shouted: "This is a peaceful protest."

Mark Bergfeld from the Education Activist Network, said the protest was designed to "blow people's minds".

Headteachers were urged to allow students to protest inside school buildings in an effort to stop them taking part in a mass demonstration.

Professor Chris Knight, a former anthropology lecturer at the University of East London said: "Occupations are happening, school children are walking out.

"There is some form of action at every university in London. It is almost a revolutionary situation.

"Unlike the last protest there is not one mass convergence happening, but everyone is doing their bit across London and I expect it to be bigger than the last protest."

Commander Bob Broadhurst, who is in charge of today's operation, said police planned to come down on students who caused trouble at today's protests "swiftly and decisively".

Police deployed lines of officers outside the Tory and the Lib-Dem HQs amid fears of violence.

Police refused to say how many police were involved in today's operation. So far more than 60 people have been arrested in connection with the occupation of Millbank and the damage caused to the building.

Nick Clegg issued a plea to students taking part in protests to look at the details of the Government's proposals, which he insisted were fairer than either the current regime or the graduate tax backed by the National Union of Students.

On BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show the Deputy Prime Minister said he regretted being unable to deliver on his pledge to prevent tuition fee increases.

"I regret of course that I can't keep the promise that I made because - just as in life - sometimes you are not fully in control of all the things you need to deliver those pledges," he said.

More pictures: New student protest turns violent