Lucknow, Jan 21 (IANS) Police used batons, water cannons and tear gas to disperse hundreds of school teachers and non-teaching staff protesting here Thursday demanding better salaries and regular jobs.

The staff of schools from parts of Uttar Pradesh demonstrated in front of the state assembly where protests are banned.

The leaders of the Uttar Pradesh Karamchari-Shikshak Sayunkt Sangh Morcha (KSSSM) tried to barge into the assembly, creating bedlam.

As the KSSSM refused to call off the protest despite repeated appeals from the police and the Lucknow district administration, the police attacked the demonstrators with batons, water cannons and tear gas.

'We used force to prevent the protestors from getting unruly,' Deputy Inspector General of Police Chandra Prakash told reporters. The KSSSM said that 35 people were injured in the baton charge.