Copenhagen - Danish police used teargas Tuesday evening to disperse protesters who threw stones, bottles and other missiles at them, news reports said.

The protests took place after a hut was demolished earlier Tuesday in the so-called free city Christiania area in the Danish capital Copenhagen.

Several cars and trash containers were also set ablaze near the main entrance to Christiania.

Police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch said three people had been arrested, but no police officers were reported injured.

Activists and inhabitants in Christiania regarded the demolition as a provocation, citing that a court hearing was pending next month over the future of Christiania.

The area, a former army base, is under the supervision of the Palaces and Properties Agency, and since the 1970s has been a haven for the alternative movement.

Critics have complained that the area is a free-zone for drug peddlers. dpa