(KUNA) -- Hundreds of people were evacuated from the building housing the Ruling Conservative Party headquarters Wednesday as a national demonstration against tuition fees descended into chaos, police said. A window was smashed at Millbank Tower in central London and eyewitnesses said students attempted to force their way into the building. An estimated 50,000 students and lecturers were taking part in the demonstration against Government plans to cut university funding and charge students up to 9,000 pounds per year in tuition fees from 2012.
One eyewitness who works at Millbank Tower, who did not want to be named, told news hounds: "The fire alarm went off and every one was evacuated from the building. There are hundreds of students outside. It looks like they are trying to get into the building. We were told that it was a false fire alarm because students were throwing smoke bombs into the building."
He added that around 300 workers gathered outside when the alarm went off. Students lit a fire outside Millbank Tower, near to where protesters were due to gather for a rally. Windows at the base of Millbank Tower - adjacent to Conservative headquarters at 30 Millbank - were smashed in the protests.
The tower, which has 30 floors, is home to a number of Government agencies including the Environment Agency, the Audit Commission and the Parliamentary Ombudsman, as well as Conservative Party headquarters. Liberal Democrat sources indicated that the party's headquarters in nearby Cowley Street had not been targeted.
The march ground to a halt when a group of students staged a sit-down protest outside Parliament. Dozens of coppers moved in to form a line outside one of the main entrances to the House of Commons, used by MPs. Up to 100 students broke away from the main march to protest outside the headquarters of the Business Department, the police added. Scores of coppers moved in to stop the students storming the building.