Police made 25 arrests as protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks marched through London in an anti-capitalist Bonfire Night demonstration yesterday.

Demonstrators chanted slogans and let off fireworks around Trafalgar Square and Downing Street but otherwise there was little trouble.

Most people were arrested for public order offences and others were held for firework related incidents or possession of drugs or offensive weapons.

Thousands of people are estimated to have taken part in the march, organised by the hacking collective Anonymous, although numbers were said to be considerably lower than in previous years.

Officers maintained a heavy presence outside key locations such as Downing Street, with Scotland Yard enforcing restrictions over the scale and location of the protest following ugly scenes in previous years when bloodied activists clashed with officers.

The event, is held on November 5 every year.

Police imposed conditions on the march, limiting it to a three-hour period between 6pm and 9pm on a prescribed route between Trafalgar Square and Whitehall.

A post on the event's Facebook page ahead of the march, which warned activists that "police are not your friends", read: "We have seen the abuses and malpractice of this government, and governments before it.

"We have seen the encroaching destruction of many civil liberties we hold dear, we have seen the pushes to make the internet yet another part of the surveillance state.

"We have seen the Government's disregard for migrants, for the poor, the elderly and the disabled, we have seen the capital, profit and greed of the few put before the wellbeing of the many and we say enough is enough."

It finishes: "The Government and the 1 per cent have played their hand. Now it's time to play ours. Expect us."

One masked activist, who gave his name as Bob, a steeplejack from Grantham in Lincolnshire, said: "I come every year because I believe in the movement.

"I believe people need to wake up and see what's happening in the world.

"The governments don't work for the people, they work for the businesses."

Asked about the violent exchanges which marred previous demonstrations in the capital, the activist - who said he trusts social media as his primary head source - said: "I don't want anybody to get hurt, I'd prefer that.

"There are always one or two people who piggyback this movement - they're the instigators."

Additional reporting by Press Association.