Three pro-democracy student leaders from Hong Kong have been stopped from boarding a plane to Beijing.

They had hoped to meet China’s leaders as part of their push for greater democracy, but were told at the airport that their travel permits were invalid.

Protesters have been camped out on the streets of the territory since late September.

They want Beijing to allow more candidates to stand in the territory’s next leadership election in 2017.

The group were greeted at the airport by fellow democracy activists, who unfurled yellow umbrellas – a symbol of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.