Five temporary workers with the urban patrol bureau in Cangnan county, Zhejiang province, were injured, two seriously, in a dispute with residents on Saturday, an official said on Sunday.

The five urban patrol officers, or chengguan, were beaten by residents when they did not quickly leave the scene of an earlier dispute, the director of the legal department of the urban patrol bureau of Lingxi township said on Sunday.

The director, who only gave his surname, He, said the five were temporary workers employed to move materials that were blocking streets.