Greek police clashed with hundreds of refugees hoping to cross to neighbouring countries and travel onwards to northern Europe.

Demonstrations outside the camp in Diavata were triggered by false reports on social media saying restrictions on travel to northern Europe had been lifted, authorities said.

Riot police fired tear gas at dozens of people, some with children in their arms, who responded by throwing stones and bottles as they tried to break a police cordon and reach a road leading to the border.

Several refugees, including children, fainted amid the gas clouds on Saturday.

Protesters lit fires to make the air more bearable, but blazes also erupted from exploding stun grenades.

In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing for food at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees' tents at the Kara Tepe camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Oxy transit camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees waiting to board ferries to the Greek mainland in Mytilene, Lebos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos The graves of drowned refugees in Mytilene, Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos A building used to house unaccompanied children at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees queuing to register at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees at the Moria camp in Lesbos In pictures: Refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugees arriving on smugglers' boats from Turkey in Lesbos

Greek officials say the migrants have been mobilised by false reports originating on social media that the road to central Europe, tightly sealed to migrants for three years, is open again, and that buses chartered by non-governmental organisations were waiting on the other side of the border with North Macedonia, about 60km (40 miles) to the north of Diavata.

Greek TV station Ant1 showed messages sent over social media earlier this week, in Arabic, from a purported NGO called "Caravan of Hope" advising refugees Greece was to open the border with North Macedonia on 5 April at noon.

Most were not residents of the camps, but came from all over Greece to reach the North Macedonian border and had started setting up tents near the camp.

Around 100 tents had been pitched in the field next to the camp, which was heavily guarded by police.

People refused to leave despite calls by ministers to return to accommodation centres and warnings onward travel would be impossible.

"It's a lie that the borders will open," migration minister Dimitris Vitsas told Greek state television ERT on Friday.

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Tens of thousands of refugees, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have been stuck in Greece since 2016, when Balkan countries shut their borders, closing the main passage towards northern Europe.