London ( CNN ) -- Twenty-four people were arrested Wednesday during a London student protest over increased tuition fees , authorities said . The arrests were made on suspicion of public order offenses ; offensive weapons ; breaching the peace ; being masked ; and `` going equipped , '' or possessing equipment used for a criminal purpose , London 's Metropolitan police said . The protest was expected to involve thousands of demonstrators in central London . About 4,000 officers were deployed , and authorities said they were ready to use rubber bullets on protesters if violence broke out . `` We 're always concerned there will be trouble , '' Simon Pountain , Metropolitan police commander , said before the protest . `` It would be remiss of me not to have dealt with that in my planning for the event to make sure that I 've got sufficient resources on duty to be able to deal with any eventuality . That 's why I 've got 4,000 officers available ... we 'll be able to deal with any of those issues if they do arise . You 've seen in previous protests where things can escalate and disorder can arise . '' CNN 's Per Nyberg contributed to this report .
The protest is over increased tuition fees . Thousands of students were expected to attend , authorities say . Police deploy riot police in central London .