Spanish national police have seized ballot boxes and voting papers from several polling stations in Catalonia as some voters in the region began casting ballots in a banned independence referendum, the Interior Ministry said as quoted by Sky news.

Police with riot shields jostled with hundreds of voters outside one station at a school in Barcelona, the Catalan capital, as the crowd chanted "we are people of peace!".

Armored vans and an ambulance were parked nearby.

Voting started at some sites in the region after people had occupied them with the aim of preventing police from locking them down.

Organizers smuggled in ballot boxes before dawn and urged voters to use passive resistance against police.

Sourc: MENA