More than 1,000 Cambodian police, many armed and in riot gear, have evicted hundreds of families who had refused to leave a Phnom Penh shantytown.

Hours before dawn, security forces sealed off the entire slum and cut power to the area.

As day broke, they began pulling down the collection of shacks.

By mid-morning, dozens of trucks were carting off dismantled homes and squatters while the city tried to resettle more than 1,000 families to clear the land for a private construction project.

The evictions have been condemned by rights groups, which point out that many of the squatters had lived in the slum for years before a real estate boom more than tripled property values there.

Their refusal to move stalled millions of dollars in commercial development.

ABC Asia Pacific TV / Radio Australia