Violance continued into a second evening yesterday at the University of London as police stamped down on protesting students.

On Wednesday evening three students were arrested after police forcibly evicted around 60 protesters trying to occupy the university's Senate House building.

Video footage filmed after police had dragged the students from the building appears to show a male police officer punching a protester in the face.

Student Helen Singh said she was caught up in the violence.

"We were walking away from the protest, but the police were punching people indiscriminately. I was pushed to the ground and my glasses smashed into three pieces," she said.

University of London Union (ULU) put out a statement saying that protesters reported they "were assaulted by both police and security, thrown to the ground, kicked and punched and dragged to the ground by their hair."

Students gathered at 3pm yesterday for a second demonstration to decry police presence on campus.

Scores of police officers and a number of riot vans arrived at the protest, which started on Malet Street in central London, and attempted to kettle the demonstrators.

Tweets from the scene indicated that the confrontation between police and students was getting more violent as the protest continued into the early evening. Reports indicated that a number of people were seen being hauled into police vans.

Linda Stupart tweeted that she was at the demonstration as a legal observer.

She tweeted: "Police, btw, indiscriminately beating students and legal observers, kettling bystanders. Battons been out all day."

The protest was ongoing as the Star went to print.

The University of London has been the scene of continued protests over a number of grievances in recent weeks, including government plans to privatise student loan debts and the university's forced closure of the student union.

The protests have coincided with a wave of occupations in universities across the country including Edinburgh, Birmingham, Sussex and Goldsmiths.

There was also widespread action on Monday by university workers across the country determined to fight for fair pay.