A court in Egypt has dismissed the case against ousted President Hosni Mubarak, accused of conspiring in the killing of over 800 protesters in the 2011 uprising.

His supporters broke into a rapturous applause as the judge in Cairo dropped the case.

However, angry crowds soon began to form in Tahrir Square, with security forces deploying tear gas and water cannon in order to disperse the protesters. An estimated 2,000 people were in attendance.

Anti-state slogans frequently used during the uprising were repeated in the demonstration, including: "The people demand the downfall of the regime."

One of the anti-military protesters said: "There were people who got killed, who is responsible for that if they were all acquitted?"

He was cleared in a retrial, over two years after he was convicted over the killing of more than 800 people.

His interior minister Habib el-Adly and six top aides were also acquitted.

Mubarak (86) was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012, for failing to stop the killing of protesters in the uprising which saw his ouster.

However the conviction was thrown out by a higher court, prompting the start of his retrial in May 2013.

The court also cleared him of charges related to gas exports to Israel.

But he will remain in prison because he is serving a three-year sentence in a separate corruption case.

Originally posted at 9.30am