Hundreds of Hong Kong police used sledgehammers and chainsaws yesterday to tear down barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters near government offices and the financial centre, reopening a major road for the first time in two weeks.

But late in the evening demonstrators retaliated by swarming into a tunnel on a major four-lane thoroughfare, bringing traffic to a halt and chanting for universal suffrage.

Riot police tried to push them back with pepper spray and batons, according to a local news channel, but later retreated.

Traffic flowed freely along Queensway Road after the protesters’ obstructions were cleared early in the day, although other major protest sites remained intact in the Admiralty and Mong Kok districts and pro-democracy demonstrators were defiant.

We will rebuild them after the police remove them

“We will rebuild them after the police remove them,” said protester Bruce Sze. “We won’t confront the police physically.”

Police with chainsaws cut through bamboo defences and others wielded sledgehammers to smash concrete blocks outside the Bank of China’s Hong Kong headquarters and next to the office of Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing.

Office workers streamed onto the streets to watch.

Passers-by walking in front of a line of policemen after police took control of a main road leading to the financial Central district in Hong Kong yesterday morning. Photo: Bobby Yip/Reuters

Unlike on Monday, when clashes erupted between anti-protest groups and pro-democracy activists after police removed blockades, there was no immediate confrontation as a result of yesterday’s operation.

In the evening, however, hundreds of people made a surprise move to occupy the tunnel on Lung Wo Road, an important east-west artery near the offices of the Hong Kong government and legislature that had been intentionally left open to traffic for most of more than two weeks of protests.

“The police took a road from us today and cleared away tents, so we’re taking this road,” said Kelvin Chor, one of the protesters.

After the police retreated, scores of demonstrators, some wearing protective face masks and goggles, swiftly formed several lines of makeshift barricades, setting the stage for another possible flashpoint.

The protesters, most of them students, are demanding full democracy for the former British colony, but their two-week campaign has caused traffic chaos and fuelled frustration in the Asian financial hub, draining public support.

By noon yesterday, the Queensway Road thoroughfare was open and traffic, including school and tour buses, streamed into the Central business district that is home to global companies such as HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered.

A main city tram line was also open again and trams were clattering through the district.

Police, criticised for using tear gas and batons in the first 24 hours of the protests, have adopted a more patient approach, counting on protesters to come under public pressure to clear main arteries. In recent days, police have selectively removed some barriers on the fringes of protest sites.