Istanbul police detained dozens of people who were trying to hold a May day rally at city centre square on Wednesday in defiance of a protest ban, reports AFP.

Some 127 people were detained attempting to make their way to an unauthorized demonstration at Taksim Square.

Protesters were pinned roughly to police vehicles during the arrests, AFP correspondents said, while tourists in the area were also subjected to baggage searches.

Several thousand people were able to attend an officially-approved event in the Istanbul district of Bakirkoy, including members of workers' unions and opposition political parties, a correspondent said.

Tensions are heightened in Istanbul after March 31 local elections.

The opposition's Ekrem Imamoglu narrowly defeated the candidate of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to become Istanbul mayor but the AKP has officially requested a rerun of the vote in the city.