Scores of police, wearing protective helmets and carrying riot shields, met with little resistance as they surrounded around 30 protesters at the offshoot protest site in Kowloon, which has been holding concurrent demonstrations with the main protest site outside government headquarters in Admiralty, which remains largely intact.

In Mong Kok, officers swiftly tore down metal barricades, bamboo and wooden planks used to block off the streets, and much of the site was cleared in less than an hour.

The dawn raid came just hours after the city's leader, Leung Chun-ying, said on Thursday his government hoped to meet with student leaders organising the protests as soon as next week.

But Mr Leung said he was not about to offer any concessions to the protesters, who are demanding a greater say in how Hong Kong chooses its leader.

"We can't make something unconstitutional constitutional," he said, in reference to protester demands to have the right to nominate his successor.

The refusal from the government and protesters to concede even the slightest ground on their respective positions has seen protests persist into its third week with no clear resolution in sight, even as residents of the vibrant financial hub becomes increasingly divided over the disruption the protests have caused.

Last week, planned talks between protesters and Mr Leung's deputy, Carrie Lam, were called off after protest leaders, dissatisfied with the planned scope of the negotiations, threatened to escalate their civil disobedience campaign.

Tensions between authorities and protesters have escalated in recent days, with police using pepper spray and batons on Wednesday as they intensified efforts to reopen roads crippled for weeks by the protests.

Footage of one protester, Ken Tsang, being dragged away by police and repeatedly kicked and beaten during a clearout on Wednesday sparked widespread public outrage, and prompted police to suspend seven of the officers involved.

Mr Tsang, a member of the pro-democratic Civic Party, had resisted arrest and squirted an unidentified liquid on several police officers before his detention. Kong Man-keung, a police superintendent, told reporters that Mr Tsang would face charges of assaulting the police, unlawful assembly and obstruction.

with agencies