Police fired volleys of tear gas during clashes in a rural Hong Kong town on Saturday as several thousand activists gathered to protest an attack by suspected triad gang members on protesters and commuters at a train station last weekend.

Police, widely criticised for failing to better protect the public from the attack by club-wielding men in Yuen Long, had refused to allow the march in the town on safety grounds.

But protesters pushed ahead and an initially peaceful action by several thousand in sweltering summer heat grew increasingly tense with stand-offs between police and protesters in several locations.

Rocks and bottles were thrown at police by protesters, who built barricades out of street furniture and umbrellas. Police responded with tear gas. “I forgot my umbrella, so I had to buy this badminton racket ... just for self protection,” said one young helmeted, masked man, who declined to give his name or age as he sped to the front line.

The protester added that many who marched did not want to stay late, saying Yuen Long was too dangerous for them after dark.

Special Tactical Squad officers attack protesters who refused to disperse from a train station in Yuen Long. (AP)

Messages circulating among protesters called for a withdrawal at 7.30pm (1130 GMT), but some doubted it would be followed. “Many people want to go but some will stay. There is a still of lot of anger. I’m not sure which way it will go. Nam Pin Wai (village) could be a target” said Kenneth, 27, retreating from one of the front lines.

Amid the retreat, Reuters witnesses saw a hard core group of activists with small metal bats, metal and wooden poles and slingshots moving against the tide.

Last Sunday, about 100 white-shirted men stormed the Yuen Long mass-transit station hours after protesters marched through central Hong Kong and defaced China’s Liaison Office — the main symbol of Beijing’s authority over the former British colony.

The men attacked black-clad protesters returning from Hong Kong island, passers-by, journalists and lawmakers with pipes and clubs, leaving 45 people injured. Some of the men later fled to Nam Pin Wai, a traditional walled village.

Police, considered slow by protesters to respond last Sunday, became a focus for Saturday’s march, adding to the tensions.

“They failed the public,” a protester called Kevin, in a red T-shirt, said of the police earlier in the afternoon, as he stood outside the police station, gripping its gates.

“They deliberately let the triads beat up protesters to get revenge on us ... We’re here to teach them a lesson,” he said, as he shouted an obscenity at the police. Police said on Sunday that officers had begun an operation to disperse crowds at 5pm.

“Violent clashes broke out at various locations in Yuen Long as some protesters removed fences from the kerbside and used mill barriers to block roads,” a statement said. “Some hurled bricks and hard objects at police officers and charged police cordon lines.”

The Yuen Long attack and the vandalism at the Liaison Office marked new fronts in a protest movement that has intensified over the last two months. The protests, considered the most direct challenge to the authority of China’s President Xi Jinping, mushroomed on Friday as thousands of activists thronged the arrivals halls of Hong Kong international airport.