The award ceremony is due to start at 13:00 local time (12:00 GMT).

The Nobel Committee gave him the prize mainly for efforts at ending the two-decade long hostile relationship between Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea.

But the protesters in Oslo have said that the benefits of the peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia have never materialised and that the prime minister should not have been given the prize.

Around 250 protesters marched through Oslo city centre holding placards saying things like: ‘’Nobel Prize is for concrete peace, not rhetoric."

People on the demonstration

TTCopyright: TT

One demonstrator told the BBC that since a peace deal was signed last year the political situation within Eritrea has not improved. Furthermore, the border between the two countries, which is closed to traffic, has still not been demarcated.

Human rights groups have frequently criticised the Eritrean government, which has never been elected.

Another activist said that a letter of protest had been sent to the Nobel Committee.

The protesters also met a representative of the Norwegian parliament.