The two women, painted deathly grey and lying in cardboard coffins covered in flowers, pulled the Halloween stunt outside a branch of US fastfood chain KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) in the Causeway Bay district.

Their call for a boycott of the chain over its alleged mistreatment of chickens was almost lost as a huge crowd jostled for a better view of shapely protesters Korean Christina Cho from Seoul, and American Brandi Valladolid from Scottsdale, Arizona.

"The police were worried by the size of the crowd we were attracting," said Jason Baker, a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) the international animal rights group behind the spectacle.

Police closed the road and pavement and called for reinforcements as the crowd of onlookers swelled and eager passersby clambered into the melee to take photos.

Nervous officers told Baker to call off the protest after 30 minutes and a police van with flashing sirens escorted the women as they left the scene in a taxi.

"In three years of protesting in Hong Kong I have never seen anything like this," said Baker afterwards.

The protesters have already taken their stunt to Tokyo and Seoul and plan next to cause a stir in Singapore.

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