London Bridge chaos: Protesters clash with motorists during rush hour demo

London Bridge was brought to a standstill tonight as protesters armed with smoke grenades held a demonstration at the height of rush hour.

Around a dozen people blocked off traffic on the busy route near London Bridge station as they waved placards and set off coloured flares in front of stunned workers.

Their presence sparked a furious reaction from motorists as traffic was brought to a halt which led witnesses to describe "ugly" scenes.

Video taken at the scene shows two men embroiled in an altercation with the protesters after they exited their van on the bridge.

One of the men was seen flung to the ground during the dispute.

Kurdish protest: They are campaigning for the release of Ocalan (@ms_ceriksson )
@ms_ceriksson

The demonstrators were calling for the release Abdullah Öcalan, a Kurdish nationalist leader and a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, who was imprisoned in Turkey in 1999.

Banners on display at the protest read “Freedom for Öcalan”.

Eyewitnesses shared photos on social media of the disruption, with one commenting: “It’s getting very ugly.”

Angry drivers: Frustrated van drivers got out the car and argued with demonstrators 
@DanMcBeth

Another tweeted a picture of a police riot van and wrote: "Police here now. That was kind of scary."

A City of London Police spokesman confirmed officers were called to the bridge at around 7.30pm but no arrests were made.

Consultant Dan McBeth, 36, was walking to London Bridge station when the drama unfolded at around 6pm.

He told the Standard: “It was a bit fractious and a bit tense. Traffic was quite heavy with vehicles backed up on the bridge

“Some of the drivers were getting out of their vans and although there was nothing too physical there was an element of pushing and shouting.

“At first I thought it looked quite cool seeing all these different coloured smoke grenades on London Bridge. There were about 40 people stood at the side just watching.

“I have no idea why they were protesting and why they chose London Bridge.”

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