Farmers' protests in the southeastern town of Kurdjali turned unto a skirmish with police after protesters stormed the office of the regional agriculture service in an attempt to force employees to leave the building, Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reported.

The farmers are demanding that their subsidies for pastures for 2007 and for the first half of 2008 be paid.

Policemen, guarding the protest, tried to stop the farmers entering the building and their intervention led to the clash. As a result, several windows were broken and some of the farmers were bruised, Dnevnik daily said.

Farmers demanded that the agency employees should be dismissed because of their incompetence at dealing with the region's agricultural problems.

Earlier in the day, the protesters gathered for a sixth consecutive day on a protest outside the town, Dnevnik said. After their demand to meet the authorities was not met, they headed for the town.

According to the Interior Ministry’s website, there was no clash and no material damages were caused. The policeman simply guarded the protest. A representative of the service and the deputy regional governor of Kurdjali met the protesters. “During the entire day policemen did not allow public order violation but did not engage in clashes with the protesters,” the website said.