At least 27 people were injured in Budapest today after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters as Hungary marked the 50th anniversary of its uprising against the Soviet Union.

Thousands took to the streets demanding the removal from power of the Socialist-led government and officers were deployed to break the crowds up.

Witnesses reported a line of 150 officers standing behind three water cannons slowly advancing on protestors who threw bottle and rocks.

Mobile units chased small groups into nearby streets while helicopters hovered overhead. Within the mass, protesters could be seen carrying placards with 7ft tall letters spelling out the word "freedom" in Hungarian.

The Associated Press reported one protester, who was hit in the head by a rubber bullet, as bleeding but still conscious. Demonstrators also broke down the security fences surrounding the square in front of the parliament, with some from the far-right reportedly carrying flags used by the pro-Nazi Arrow Cross party regime during the Second World War

This afternoon’s events followed clashes earlier in the day in which 10 people were arrested after police expelled protestors from a square outside parliament, the site of official celebrations for state officials and more than 50 foreign dignitaries.

Several of the demonstrators have been present outside parliament for weeks in an attempt to bring down the Government, but were forced away this morning to clear the way for official ceremonies. Some of the protestors who later tried to return to the scene were fired at by water cannons and with tear gas in order to disperse them.

Some of those demonstrating, including women and the elderly, were reportedly beaten with rubber batons, causing injuries and leaving several people with bloodied faces.

Tensions are running high across the country after Budapest exploded into violence last month when a tape emerged of Ferenc Gyurcsány, the Socialist Prime Minister, admitting that he had lied "morning and evening".

As well as triggering mass protests, the confession has heightened deepening disputes between political parties.

Despite appeals for national unity from Laszlo Solyom, the Hungarian President, around 3,000 people - including some with scarves covering their faces - had gathered by midday, chanting "56, 56" and "traitor", as they marched through Budapest to Corvin Square, where thousands fought against the Red Army 50 years ago, reported Reuters.

According to the news agency, one banner on display amidst the protestors read: "Dear guests, welcome to Gyurcsany’s country where lies look like truth, sin looks like virtue ... Please help us to help him and his followers resign."

"I am here because we have to fight this government, we have to destroy them," said Laszlo Toth, 76. "Aged 19 I was arrested and taken to (secret police headquarters in) Andrassy Street, I confessed to everything so they would stop beating me. I am here for the younger generation."

The ceremonies are uncomfortable for Mr Gyurcsány, once a communist youth leader and now one of the richest men in Hungary, also because of his own personal ties to the events of 1956. His wife, Klara Dobrev, is the granddaughter of Antal Apró, who helped to organise the crackdown in which hundreds of freedom fighters were imprisoned and more than 200 executed.

At parliament though, the commemorations went ahead as dozens of world leaders gathered to join the Prime Minister as the national anthem was played and the flag hoisted. Dignitaries then filed to place a single white rose at the foot of a black marble monument to the uprising, before heading inside the parliament.

Speaking in parliament, Mr Gyurcsány said that in 1956 Hungarians had no choice but to rebel, but that now the country, which joined the European Union in 2004, was a modern democratic state.

"Despite the often justified disappointment and discontent, the majority of Hungarians believe that parliamentary democracy is the most suited to express people’s will and to create law and give a programme to a free Hungary," he said.

Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, said the 1956 revolution "lit a torch of freedom" which later helped topple dictatorships across Europe.

"Transitions are never easy, but Hungary’s achievements over the past 16 years are substantial. To embed them, reform must continue," he said.

The uprising was crushed by Soviet tanks on November 4 1956, sealing the nation’s fate as a satellite state of Moscow until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. Imre Nagy, its communist leader — whom the nationalist Right now tries to appropriate — was hanged after a show trial.

Yet the subsequent compromises of the "goulash communism" instituted by János Kádár contributed to the collapse of the dictatorship. "After 1956 nobody could have any illusions that the Soviet Union was progressive or idealistic," Mr Gorka said. "What happened in Hungary played a significant part in the ultimate collapse of communism."

In 1989, Nagy was reburied with full state honours.

Times Recommends

• Henning Mankell: ‘If Wallander was alive, I wouldn’t be a friend of his’
• Secret society's skull and crossbones for sale
• Nigerian leader vanishes after medical treatment