Hong Kong police set to clear protest site

This photo shows an early morning overview of the pro-democracy protest camp in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong on 11 December 2014

Early on Thursday, groups of protesters remained at the Admiralty site

HK protests

Police in Hong Kong are preparing to move in on student protesters who have blocked roads in the city centre for more than two months.

The authorities have warned protestors to leave so that bailiffs and police can clear barricades, but some have vowed to remain.

The number of protesters has fallen to a few hundred, from tens of thousands who first gathered in September.

Officials had given protesters a deadline of 09:00 (01:00GMT) to leave.

The protesters want Beijing to allow free elections for the territory's next leader in 2017. China says everyone can vote but a pro-Beijing committee will screen candidates.

'Non-violent approach'

The clearance is the result of a court order obtained by a bus company which says the protests have disrupted its business.

While the order covers three portions of the Admiralty site, including the main Connaught Road area, Hong Kong police spokesman Cheung Tak-keung said officers would remove obstructions from nearby roads.

He also said they would clear away barricades from a second protest site at Causeway Bay site "at an appropriate time".

A man walks past a message written on an overpass by pro-democracy protesters at the financial Central district in Hong Kong December 10, 2014

Protesters say the clearance will not be the end of their movement

Protesters pose for photographs on a barricade at the occupied area outside government headquarters in Hong Kong on 10 December 2014

On Wednesday crowds swelled for a rally ahead of the clearance

Student leaders have said that they will remain at the Admiralty site as long as they can but will not offer violent resistance to the operation.

Some pro-democracy politicians say they will join the students at the site.

Some protesters, however, were packing up their tents.

"I'll probably leave just before the action because my job would be difficult if my name was recorded by police," one 29-year-old protester told AFP news agency.

Clashes erupted when a third protest site, at Mong Kok, was cleared last month. On Wednesday, Hong Kong's top civil servant Carrie Lam urged students to leave the Admiralty site peacefully.

"I will appeal to [students] that they should abide by what they have said all along, and that is to adopt a peaceful, orderly and non-violent approach with a view to avoiding unnecessary confrontation with the police," she said.

Later that evening, more than 10,000 people gathered at the protest site, chanting pro-democracy slogans.

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