Angry scenes erupted outside the Syrian embassy in London just hours after a number of demonstrators were arrested for storming into the building.

Following the protest in the early hours, crowds gathered again in Belgrave Square, central London, and clashed with police and hurled missiles at the building, amid reports of more than 200 people killed in a deadly barrage in the city of Homs.

Rocks and bottles were thrown at the embassy, shattering windows, as police attempted to quell heated scenes.

The clashes came as protesters forced their way into four other Syrian embassies in European and Middle Eastern cities.

Officers fought back a surge towards the embassy as crowds forced their way through barricades towards police in riot gear.

Shouts of "free Syria" and "we want to close the embassy" rang out in protest against the Syrian regime's brutal repression of the country's uprising.

As passions flared, protesters climbed on top of barriers before police reinforcements arrived in large vans and the demonstrators were driven back across the road.

After some confusion and a brief confrontation with officers who had their sticks drawn, the group was penned in behind barriers across the road from the embassy.

The heated scenes come after Scotland Yard held five people for gaining entry to the embassy in the early hours of the morning when around 150 demonstrators descended on the building.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a number of people were arrested for public order offences while another individual was detained on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.