Nine protesters have been arrested for civil disorder in demonstrations against a right-wing ball in Vienna's imperial Hofburg Palace.

More than 2500 joined protests against the Academics' Ball on Friday night which was hosted by Austria's far-right Freedom Party and has in the past attracted right-wing icons such as France's Marine le Pen. Police had closed off a large area around the palace, which contains several museums and the office of the Austrian president, ahead of the protests by mainly green and left-wing student groups, after clashes at the event last year.