LONDON: Scotland Yard officers policing demonstrations in London said on Friday that they have made 104 arrests as part of efforts to contain large anti-lockdown protests as England has entered its second stay-at-home coronavirus restrictions.
As soon as crowds began gathering, the Metropolitan Police said its officers took immediate action to direct people to go home, arrests were made as people failed to comply with the direction.
"A crowd of people chose to ignore the new regulations, to behave irresponsibly and meet in a dangerous manner. More than 100 of these people have now been arrested and will have to face the consequences of their actions," said Commander Jane Connors, leading the Met Police operation in central London on Thursday evening.
"We are eight months into this national pandemic and frankly there can be no excuse for people to dangerously breach regulations which are there to prevent further spread of coronavirus" I would continue to urge people across the city to keep yourselves safe and stick to the regulations," she said.
Protesters, including those masked reflecting the "Million Mask March", could be seen walking and chanting "freedom" and "no more lockdown".
The anti-establishment Million Mask March is associated with the "hacktivist" group Anonymous.
Attendees frequently wear masks similar to those from the film 'V for Vendetta', in which a hooded figure calls for an uprising on the streets of London against the dystopian authoritarian British government.
New restrictions now in place across England until at least December 2 mean people should stay at home except for education, work, exercise, medical reasons, shopping for essentials, or to care for others. Households are not allowed to mix with others indoors or outdoors.
The demonstrators were repeatedly told to go home, with officers shouting at a group: "You are breaking the law."
Piers Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, was among those at Trafalgar Square.
He has been previously handed a fixed penalty notice, or a fine, for similar demonstrations.
"No more lockdown, no more cover-ups, no more masks, no more lies," read one placard.
It came as students at Manchester University tore down "prison like" fencing erected on the campus at the start of the latest lockdown.
The university later apologised for the "concern and distress" caused.
Meanwhile, the lockdown will be enough to make a "real impact" and there is light at the end of that tunnel for "as normal a Christmas as possible", UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
Addressing a briefing from Downing Street on Thursday, the first day of England's latest stay-at-home lockdown, Johnson was asked of the chances of having to extend the lockdown if the surge in coronavirus infections is not brought under control.
He admitted that many people were "anxious, weary and quite frankly fed up with the very mention of this virus" but stressed that the "tough" new measures are "time-limited".
"The advice I've received suggests that four weeks is enough for these measures to make a real impact," Johnson said.
"So these rules will expire and on December 2 we plan to move back to a tiered system. There is light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
Pubs, bars, restaurants and all non-essential shops are now closed across England as part of the latest shutdown.
People have also been told to stay at home except for when attending school, college, university or work, for medical reasons or when going food shopping.
Johnson referred to the latest statistics to point out the severity of the second wave as there were now 12,320 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, up from 2,602 a month earlier, with 1,142 patients on mechanical ventilators, up from 369 a month earlier.
"If we follow this package of measures in the way that we can and we have done before, I have no doubt people will be able to have as normal a Christmas as possible and that we will be able to get things open before Christmas as well," he said.
Johnson announced a further 15 million pounds would be given to councils to offer safe accommodation for people sleeping rough or at risk of becoming homeless during England's second lockdown.