At least 50 arrested in Copenhagen clashes

COPENHAGEN, May 15 (Reuters) Danish police arrested at least 50 people in Copenhagen after violent clashes that started when authorities demolished a wood house in Copenhagen's famous hippie enclave Christiania.

Several hundred people gathered to protest against the yesterday demolition, setting fire to rubbish bins and cars near Christiania in central Copenhagen.

Police spokesman Flemming Steen Munk today said that five of those arrested would be charged for resisting arrest.

In March, hundreds were arrested in the Danish capital after the eviction of left-wing squatters from a youth centre led to days of violent street clashes.

Christiania was founded by hippies in 1971 in central Copenhagen in abandoned military barracks. Later it grew into a tourist hotspot, largely thanks to an easy trade in soft drugs.

Denmark's centre-right coalition government which has clamped down on the drugs trade wants to construct new buildings, tear down some houses and introduce normal ownership rules in the area, requiring residents to pay rent.

So far, residents have rejected the full government plan and the government has said it will introduce the changes unilaterally, despite protest from supporters of the area.

REUTERS RJ KP1654