Hong Kong awoke to what is expected to be a day of relative calm on Sunday following a violent night in which protesters set fire to metro stations and vandalised buildings, including an office of China's official news agency Xinhua.

More than 200 people were arrested in one of the worst outbreaks of violence in recent weeks as around five months of protests show no signs of abating. Demonstrators are angry at perceived Chinese meddling with Hong Kong's freedoms since the city returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997, a charge which China denies.