Students occupy Edinburgh University lecture theatre

More than 100 students took part in the peaceful sit-in at Edinburgh University, which followed a march that brought city centre traffic to a halt.

Protesters remained in the building this morning and they have vowed to stay there "indefinitely" until they see a positive response to their protest.

The university did not object to the demonstration, and students were even able to get bedding into the building, though all access was closed off at 7pm last night.

Updates were posted on social networking site Twitter from inside the building, and the demonstrators said they would issue "demands" that more be done to fight education cuts. They plan to come out for a protest rally at noon. A small police presence was maintained outside the lecture theatre overnight.

Speaking from inside the lecture theatre, first year archeology student Tom Gardener, 17, said their aim was to support the university, while pressing it to be more vocal in opposition to the cuts.

"We want to see the university take more of a stance against these changes, and it was felt this was the best way to get our point across." He added that the protest had been peaceful.

Earlier in the day more than 300 protesters, including school pupils who walked out of class at lunchtime, took to the streets in a peaceful demonstration, joining thousands of students across the UK who marched in opposition to proposed increases in tuition fees.

Flanked by dozens of officers from Lothian and Borders Police, the group protested outside the headquarters of the Liberal Democrats on Clifton Terrace, shutting down the road for more than an hour.

Joe Downing, 20, an English and philosophy student, said: "We wanted to show our support for other protests and also remind the Liberal Democrats that we will not forget the fact that they have broken their pledge about education.

"It has all been very peaceful, although it's surprising how many police there are here."

Students moved up Morrison Street, chanting "fight the cuts", before staging a sit-down protest at a nearby junction. A similar protest was held on Lothian Road, with police stopping traffic and allowing the students to make their point before moving them on.

The event passed off peacefully, despite a brief stop outside the Bank of Scotland headquarters on Lothian Road, which saw students shouting "scroungers" at bankers inside.

The march then moved to Edinburgh University, where student staged a peaceful occupation of administration offices and the lecture theatre. Police said there had been no arrests.

A spokesman for the University of Edinburgh said: "A group of students occupied the registration offices for a short period of time. There was no damage or violence and the protest was good natured.".