Thousands of young Danes took to the streets on Wednesday to protest over a government plan to cut student allowances, adding to a wave of European youth anger.

Axar.az reports, citing France 24, under the banner "Enough is Enough", 11 high school and university student associations marched from Copenhagen's City Hall Square to parliament over the proposed cuts to free up funds for defence spending.

Student protests that started in France have spread in recent weeks to other European countries. Some 40,000 students were on strike at 57 schools across Denmark, including 12,00-13,000 at the protest in Copenhagen, according to organisers.

Copenhagen police were out in force during the demonstration which unfolded in a peaceful atmosphere under sunny autumn skies.

Thousands of young people chanted "Broken Promises" and carried signs reading "Save SU", the Danish acronym for the student allowance, "Less Support, Less Educated" and "Don't Cheat the Young".

"In Denmark, we get funding and economic support for getting an education, and we're very proud of this," said one protest organiser, Danish High School Students' Association president Oscar Tonsberg Hoffmann.

He told AFP that it would be wrong to dismantle "one of the world's strongest educational systems".

In a draft budget bill, Denmark's centre-left government plans to abolish the SU allowance for students who live with their parents and whose parents' total annual income exceeds 700,000 Danish kroner ($104,440).

The amount students receive would be progressive for all students whose parents earn between 419,589 kroner and 700,000 kroner a year.

The SU has until now been given to all students over the age of 18, which means high school and university students receive it.