A protester is in a critical condition after being shot by police in Hong Kong.

The protester was shot as demonstrators blocked subway lines and roads during the morning commute in the eastern part of the island.

In a video posted on Facebook, the protester - dressed in a black lycra suit - approaches the police officer as he corners another protester.

The first protester was shot at close range and was later seen lying in a pool of blood.

A witness told Reuters news agency that there had been "three sounds, like pam, pam, pam".

The local hospital authority confirmed a 21-year-old man was admitted to hospital on Monday after being injured.

He was undergoing an operation, they said.

The area was cordoned off after the shooting and what looked like dried blood was still visible.

Protesters use obstacles and bricks to block a road in Hong Kong | Image: Vincent Yu/AP/Press Association Images

A third protester also approached and was fired at but police said they were not hit.

A man who confronted protesters and asked "You are all not Chinese" was also set on fire.

Elsewhere, several injuries have been reported after a policeman appeared to deliberately ram his motorbike into a crowd of people during a citywide protest.

The violence is the latest in protests which have lasted since June.

They began as a reaction to a now-abandoned bill that would have seen those suspected of crimes in Hong Kong facing extradition to China.

But over the past few months, the campaign has widened to encompass general anti-China feeling in the city, as residents fear their freedoms are being eroded.

Hong Kong retained those freedoms, which are not enjoyed by those on the Chinese mainland, after the region was returned to China from Britain in 1997.

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam, centre, speaks during a press conference in Hong Kong | Image: Dita Alangkara/AP/Press Association Images

On November 24th, Hong Kong will hold district council elections which will be a guide to how the government is seen.

But pro-democracy activists say the government is trying to provoke violence to give them an excuse to cancel or postpone the vote.

Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam has said the violence has far exceeded the call for democracy and that demonstrators are now the "people's enemy".

Speaking on Monday, she said protesters were "relentlessly destroying society", adding that the city state had been put under strain because of extensive violence of "rioters".

She said she wanted to tell protesters they "will not succeed in securing their demands", and appealed to everyone in the city to "stay calm" and refrain from taking part in any illegal activities.