Canadian police have cleared a key US border bridge occupied by trucker-led demonstrators angry over Covid-19 restrictions, towing vehicles and making “several” arrests in their bid to quell a movement that has also paralysed downtown Ottawa.

“Today, our national economic crisis at the Ambassador Bridge came to an end,” Drew Dilkens, mayor of Windsor, Ontario, said in a statement. “Border crossings will reopen when it is safe to do so.”

With thousands of protesters still paralysing the center of federal capital Ottawa, Canada's public safety and emergency preparedness minister indicated that patience was running short.

“Enough is enough,” Bill Blair told the CBC. “This has to come to an end.