A high-speed railway station in South China's Guangdong province has had its normal operation restored Friday after 22 protestors were detained by local police for allegedly blocking train and damaging public properties, according to local authorities.

Residents of Mazha village in Puning city forced their way onto the platform of the local train station at about 8:10 pm on Thursday, causing a high-speed train to delay departure for about half an hour, according to a statement issued by the Puning government on Thursday night.

The site was cleared at around 8:40 pm on Thursday, with four protestors detained by police, the statement said. Twelve other villagers were detained on Friday over the station incident.

Locals told Xinhua that the protesters stormed the station as a stunt to draw the attention of senior officials to issues with land, money, irrigation and housing in Mazha.

"Large areas of land were sold cheaply, and many villagers were never properly compensated," one villager told Xinhua.

The Puning government said it has sent nine teams to try to settle land disputes in Mazha since September, but villagers have continued to petition the local government and have staged protests in a construction site and a textile mill.

Police detained six protesters on Thursday afternoon for "damaging public and private property", and they are continuing to hunt other suspects.

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