6.00pm: Good evening and welcome to our continuing coverage of the March for the Alternative in London, and the aftermath. You can read our earlier live blog here.



• Around 500,000 people have joined the anti-cuts march through central London. The figure was higher than originally hoped for by the organisers.

• Police said the protest had been "peaceful and well-stewarded". But there have been a few clashes between police and activists not associated with the main march, and nine arrests have been made.

• More than a dozen stores on Oxford Street were occupied by the anti tax evasion group Ukuncut. The group has also occuplied the upscale department store Fortnum and Mason. Riot police have set up a kettle around the area.

6.10pm: The Metropolitan police press office has said that today's march has been largely peaceful and well ordered, with a small number of violent disruptions and just nine arrests. This is the police statement:

Today's TUC March for the Alternative has been peaceful and well-stewarded. However, there have been a number of separate incidents including the throwing of missiles in the Oxford Street area and criminal damage in Shaftesbury Avenue. Police are on the scene and dealing with this. There have been a small number of arrests made for various public order offences, criminal damage and violent disorder. We can confirm police have not advised businesses in central London to close.

6.40pm: My colleague Matthew Taylor has said that UKuncut have ended their occupation at Fortnum and Mason and are now being detained by police.

6.46pm: Met police saying that Fortnum and Mason is now being treated as a crime scene and threatening UKuncut with arrest.

Fortnum and Mason’s is surrounded by police as this is a crime scene. Persons responsible will be arrested #ukuncut Metropolitan Police

CO11MetPolice

6.59pm: Paul Lewis has called in with a report of a fire in Piccadilly that appears to be getting out of control.

The fire is on Jermyn Street next to Piccadilly. It began about 15mins ago when clashes broke out between the police cordon and protesters. The protesters ripped up scaffolding and planks of wood, filled a waste bin and set it alight. That fire has now spread with flames reaching 11ft high, and from where I'm standing it looks like it is getting out of control. There's a thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky. I'm about 30ft away and can feel the heat from where I'm standing. Riot police have cleared the immediate vicinity but the whole area around Piccadilly is becoming something of a magnet for people looking to cause disruption. The situation is now getting dangerous.

You can see a photo of the fire here.

7.01pm: There are reports on Twitter that the sports clothing store Lillywhites is now on fire.

Lillywhites on fire piccadilly circus http://yfrog.com/gzrtqbej Chris Snell

chrissnelltweet

7.23pm: Labour leader Ed Miliband tonight condemned the violence which erupted away from the march, according to PA.

Hundreds of thousands of people peacefully protested today. They are the true voice of today's march. I unequivocally condemn those who have committed acts of violence. There is no excuse for it. It is unlawful and wrong.

Earlier the Labour leader addressed the rally saying that the marchers represented the opinion of the mainstream majority across the UK.

Our struggle is to fight to preserve, protect and defend the best of the services we cherish because they represent the best of the country we love. We know what the Government will say: that this is a march of the minority. They are so wrong. David Cameron: you wanted to create the big society - this is the big society. The big society united against what your Government is doing to our country. We stand today not as the minority, but as the voice of the mainstream majority in this country.

7.27pm: A Scotland Yard spokesman said five officers were injured during the protests.

Four were treated for minor injuries and one was taken to hospital with a groin injury, according to PA.

7.40pm: Police now say 75 arrests have been made in London today.

75 arrests have been made following disorder and criminal damage in Central London #ukuncut #march26march #march26 #26march Metropolitan Police

CO11MetPolice

7.45pm: Matt Taylor and Paul Lewis have just sent this update via email. They say that the pockets of violence will not overshadow the anti-cuts message of the protesters.

Night has fallen, Hyde Park is clearing out, and we're starting to see more of the ugly clashes that have come to typify big public order demonstrations in London. If the story today was very much a huge turnout of people opposed to government cuts, what we have seen so far tonight should not overshadow that. Earlier nurses, teachers, students, doctors and pensioners all felt that they had been involved in something significant: a moment when their opposition to the government's spending cuts was given a powerful voice. Most would have remained oblivious to the fact that a dozen shop windows in the West End (randomly chosen, it seems, but there was a preference for banks and multinationals) were smashed and covered in paint. Television pictures from tonight will change that. There appear to be thousands stuck in the West End, either unable to exit kettles or determined to confront police. It is hard for us to give a comprehensive picture, as police appear to have contained protesters in several "mini kettles" around the West End, but there are repeated ongoing confrontations. Bottles, bricks, sticks and fencing are being thrown. Police are striking back, and repeatedly surging at the demonstrators. On Jermyn Street, repeated clashes ended in protesters turning fences, planks of wood and upturned bins into burning barricades, causing a serious fire that fire-fighters were called to extinguish. There are around 1,000 protesters in Trafalgar Square. It seems more peaceful here, with one woman trying to teach an Arabic chant to the crowd in the ongoing (and largely unsuccessful) attempt to "turn Trafalgar into Tahrir". This will probably continue, in a downward spiral, for a few more hours.

7.49pm: Riot police stand in front of a burning barricade in Jermyn Street.

7.52pm: Journalist Shiv Malik has sent this report of a police officer who has been seriously injured at Piccadilly.

A police officer has been injured outside of Waterstones in Piccadilly. He is currently being attended to by an ambulance and health staff said his situation is stable. I saw him inside the ambulance with a neck brace and ice packs on his legs. It looks pretty serious.

7.56pm: Matt Taylor has said the post at 7.01 reporting a fire at Lillywhites should be corrected. The smoke that can be seen in the picture is from the fire on Jermyn Street reported by Paul Lewis at 6:59. Firefighters put the blaze out shortly afterwards.

8.23pm: Richard Livingstone, cabinet member for Southwark council who was at the protest with a 100 strong Southwark Labour contingent, said their experience of the protest was peaceful and meaningful.

I've not seen any violence, just a few vandalised buildings and a bit of graffiti. It's been a remarkably peaceful and friendly march; good natured and well mannered. Only a small minority of people have been violent. The vast majority of us witnessed nothing of that at all. Everybody I saw simply wanted to send a message to the government about their frustration with the huge scale of public sector cuts. I was marching with the Southwark Labour party because of the catastrophic scale of the cuts in our local area – we are subjected to a £34m cut in funding from central government in a single year. It's unfair that an area as deprived as Southwark is facing the biggest cuts of any borough in London. Deprived areas across the country are suffering disproportionately. There was an extremely diverse bunch of people out today. I saw Gurkhas, people who work for the police, trade unions, students, Labour party members, green party activists... it was very broad based I thought. Many people were there who had never been on a march before but were just upset about what happened to their own local community.

8.34pm: Here is a collection of photographs from Oxford Circus taken by freelance photographer and demonstrator Jonangelo Molinari earlier this afternoon.

8.38pm: Here are photographs of windows being smashed at the Porsche showroom this afternoon, as described at 3:48 by student demonstrator Emily Finch.

8.44pm: These pictures show violent scenes in central Oxford Street this afternoon.



9.01pm: Matthew Taylor says that the protests in central London are starting to calm down.

In Piccadilly Circus it's now difficult to tell who is a protester and who is a Saturday night tourist. Demonstrators were playing a game of football by the Eros statue, a sign of the mood lightening. The UKuncut lot seem to be being released from their containment by Fortnum and Mason. In Trafalgar Square between 500 and 1,000 protesters are gathering around fires and dancing and listening to music. The traffic is moving freely and the police seem happy with the situation. There is still a large police presence but there is much less tension.

9.04pm: Protesters make a bonfire in Piccadilly Circus as the mood calms.

9.07pm: Shiv Malik says that some 2,000 people are now in Trafalgar Square with a couple of tents being set up at the base of Nelson's column as protesters attempt to turn it into Tahrir Square.

9.08pm: PA has updated the information on arrests and injuries from the Met. The force now says 125 people were arrested for a variety of offences, including public order offences, criminal damage, aggravated trespass and violent disorder. There were 35 reported injuries over the course of the day, including five police officers. Sixteen were taken to hospital, including one officer.

9.31pm: As the TUC anti-cuts protest begins to disperse, here is another summary of the day's events.

• 500,000 demonstrators turned out in what is believed to be the largest demonstration since those against the Iraq war.

• Police said the protest had been "peaceful and well-stewarded". But latest figures suggest there were 157 arrests and 35 injuries.

• More than a dozen shops on Oxford Street were occupied by Ukuncut.The group also occupied the upscale department store Fortnum & Mason

• Violence broke out on Oxford Street as Santander's windows were smashed and Lloyds TSB was attacked. Windows at the the Porsche showroom on Park Lane were smashed and a fire was started in Jermyn Street, just off Piccadilly Circus.

• The Labour leader Ed Miliband condemned the violence, but defended the vast majority of demonstrators. He said they represented the views of "mainstream Britain".

• The last contingent of around 2,000 protesters are now gathered around fires in Trafalgar Square with a few setting up tents for the night

10.01pm: Hello, this is Alan Evans picking up the live blog from Rowenna.

Reports are coming in of clashes between protesters and police in Trafalgar Square.

The Met have tweeted a warning:

If you're not involved in the disorder, please move away from Trafalgar Square. Officers are coming under sustained attack

10.12pm: Matthew Taylor has received a call telling him that there are between 500 and 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square. Apparently people are throwing bottles and flares, and there have been reports of protesters carrying petrol bombs.

10.25pm: Matthew Taylor has been in touch again to say that a couple of hundred people have now dispersed, and the situation in Trafalgar Square now appears to be dissipating.

This live webcam feed would seem to back that up, though it only shows a small part of the square.

10.33pm: Laurie Penny, who writes for Comment Is Free and the New Statesman, is tweeting from Trafalgar Square now. This presents quite a different picture, suggesting that the police are kettling protesters and fireworks are being let off.

Meanwhile, Sky News are showing footage of police officers in the square forming riot lines four men deep to keep protesters back as missiles including bottles and bricks are thrown at them.

10.42pm: The Mail on Sunday's front page focuses on the damage done to the Ritz Hotel, while the Sunday Mirror concentrate on the earlier, peaceful aspect of the march. The Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph also focus on the violence. The Independent on Sunday have a clever front page questioning the media's focus on 'the inevitable aftermath', while the Observer leads on the march and rally.

10.51pm: PA is reporting that the trouble in Trafalgar Square may have risen from an attempt to damage the Olympic clock, with the following statement from a Met spokesman:

"A large number from the crowd are throwing missiles and have attempted to damage the Olympic clock within the square. Officers have come under sustained attack as they deal with the disorder and attempted criminal damage."

They also carry a more reassuring statement from Bob Broadhurst, the commander who led the police operation, on the minority of troublemakers at the protests:

"I wouldn't call them protesters. They are engaging in criminal activities for their own ends. We anticipated there would be some problems. We have minimised the damage caused. We'll never have enough officers to protect every building in central London. It cannot be done."

11.04pm: The Guardian is seeking to establish a team of volunteer "cuts-watchers" who will collect information on how services are being hit in a particular area or sector. If you're interested in getting involved please email us at cutswatch@guardian.co.uk or see here for more information.

We've had a really good response so far, but if you're concerned about the cuts taking place near you, please do get in touch.

11.13pm: Our video department has compiled this footage of protesters climbing onto the awning of Fortnum & Mason earlier.

UKUncut have claimed that 200 of their members staged a protest there in response to alleged tax avoidance.

11.28pm: Bob Broadhurst has been interviewed by the BBC, and was optimistic that the trouble would calm down within the next few hours. He also had the latest arrest total, which stands at 211, though this is likely to rise further.

The live footage being shown on Sky and the BBC shows footage from inside the kettle. The police appear to be keeping a good distance at the moment, and the protesters are mostly sitting down around makeshift fires.

11.41pm: Were you at the protests today? Did you take any videos? We want to include them in our coverage of the demonstration. On an Inside Guardian blogpost, our video producer John Domokos explains how you can contribute and why you should.

11.45pm: The Met have just tweeted that they are letting people out of the kettle in small groups. The BBC have footage of officers talking with protesters and letting some through. The kettle lines do seem to have thinned, though, and it seems that people are no longer throwing missiles at the police.

At the containment in Trafalgar Square, persons are being allowed to leave in small groups #march26 Metropolitan Police

CO11MetPolice

12.05am: The Observer's Nick Cohen was at the march earlier, and has a piece in today's paper on what political significance the event will have for the government and the unions:

The whiff of failure hung over yesterday's march in London against the coalition's austerity programme. But whose failure was it: the protesters or those they protested against? As the demonstrators set off from the Embankment, they could have been forgiven for believing that journalists were contractually obliged to decide the issue in advance and write them off as losers. "Protest never changes anything," cried writers who don't want anything to change. "Opposition to the cuts is futile," added columnists on private health schemes. Most of the protesters were public sector workers, and conventional wisdom has forgotten that our current crisis was caused by the most reckless and avaricious bankers the private sector has ever produced, not the teachers, nurses and firefighters the government is forcing to carry the blame.

Read the rest of Nick's article here.

The Observer also carries an editorial calling for 'a viable alternative to these austerity measures'.

12.15am: As the trouble in Trafalgar Square seems to be calming down, here's a summary of the day's events:

• About 500,000 protesters marched in what is believed to be the largest demonstration since the 2003 Iraq war march. Police said the protest had been "peaceful and well-stewarded", but there were at least 214 arrests and 35 injuries, including five to police officers. Police have said that they expect the arrest total to rise significantly.

• UKUncut occupied several shops on Oxford Street as well as Fortnum and Mason. Activists targeted Lloyds TSB, Porsche, the Ritz Hotel and Santander, and fires were started in several locations.

• Violence broke out in Trafalgar Square later in the evening with reports of more injuries sustained by both police and protesters. Officers set up a containment "kettle", and have been releasing protesters in small groups.