Employers have stepped up efforts to ensure the safety of their staff in Hong Kong, where months of protests have intensified into running battles between police and demonstrators.

The protests, which began after the authorities introduced an extradition bill that would have allowed for the extradition of criminal suspects to stand trial in mainland China, degenerated into fierce battles played out on university campuses across the territory.

Universities have suspended classes for the rest of the year and the violent scenes triggered an exodus of mainland Chinese students. Some international students have requested assistance from their consulates. France has helped students who wanted to leave and the UK consulate advised its nationals on campus to stay in their dormitories.