Many residents did not want to leave their belongings unguarded

More than 100,000 people have already been moved from the slopes of Mount Kelud - but many have returned to their villages or have refused to leave.

Police chief Tjuk Basuki said the authorities "had no choice" but to force villagers to evacuate.

Earlier in the week officials raised the alert on Mount Kelud, on the island of Java, to maximum.

The volcano last erupted in 1990, killing dozens of people.

Scientists say the current delay could increase the power of the eruption when it finally occurs, possibly making it more devastating than the 1990 disaster.

'No signs'

Earlier this week, the authorities ordered the evacuation of some 116,000 people from a 10km (6 mile) zone near Mount Kelud.

But some people have been reluctant to leave their crops untended, and have complained about the inadequate food and shelter provided for them.

"We turned off the lights so that the police thought we had left," a local villager named as Sugiyem told Reuters.

"I am afraid of the mountain erupting but so far there have been no signs - the trees near the crater are still green, animals such as monkeys, snakes and hogs haven't come down."

Sugiyem and her family were eventually forced to leave by the authorities.

Col Basuki told the Associated Press villagers had been warned repeatedly of the danger they were in.

"If we don't force them - in this case with a showing of firearms - the villagers would not budge," he said.

In 1919 about 5,000 people died when Mount Kelud erupted, ejected scalding water from its crater lake and destroying hundreds of villages.