Danish police detain climate protesters

Danish police detained 240 people on Wednesday when protesters stormed barricades around a global climate summit and briefly broke through a police cordon, witnesses and police said.

Police, some with dogs, used truncheons and pepper spray to keep back the hundreds of protesters who gathered outside Copenhagen's Bella Centre, where world leaders are meeting to try to broker a new deal on global warming.

After hours of scuffles, most demonstrators began to drift away from the conference centre on the outskirts of the Danish capital by late afternoon.

"After we and the protesters had looked at each other for a while and we tried to have a dialogue, then the majority of the protesters decided to head back into the city, so ... it seems to be over," Copenhagen police chief superintendent Per Larsen said on Danish TV 2 news.

Demonstrators tried to penetrate a police cordon around the conference centre, and a few did break through an outer ring of security momentarily but were chased down by police, a Reuters witness said.

Roads surrounding the centre and the nearest metro station were closed in response to the protests. A helicopter circled overhead, and police inspected the belongings of some people heading towards the conference venue.

Police later held some protesters at bay across a footbridge from the conference centre, where one man shouted at police: "We told you we would be peaceful, and you reacted with violence. Shame on you."

Climate Justice Action, which organized the march, said a few thousand people took part. Police declined to estimate the number of protesters.

Demonstrators were taken to a former beer warehouse turned into a makeshift jail where some opened their iron cages and tried to escape before being re-apprehended.

"There were violent incidents in the detention centre but calm has returned and the situation is now under control," police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch told AFP.

The conference's U.N. organizers restricted non-governmental organizations’ access to the Bella Centre for security reasons on Wednesday, drawing sharp criticism from many NGOs.

The Danish government said it would arrange an alternative conference venue in Copenhagen for observer NGO members that would not be able to enter the Bella Centre on Thursday and Friday when 119 heads of state and government join the talks.

After we and the protesters had looked at each other for a while and we tried to have a dialogue, then the majority of the protesters decided to head back into the city, so ... it seems to be over

Copenhagen police chief superintendent Per Larsen