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French police locked horns with thousands of angry protesters who stormed the streets with placards and wearing yellow vests before hurling objects at riot police and starting fires. Shocking images show demonstrators waving an array of flags and ramming metal barriers into police, with some being dragged away from the scene by officers. Paris was last night under a fog of tear gas, with demonstrators also being targeted with water cannons to fire at police. Officers were also seen edging closer to protestors using a wall of their shields.

A trailer was set on fire and exploded on the Champs Elysees and a man who tried to attack fire fighters was overpowered by some of the demonstrators themselves. On the nearby Avenue de Friedland, police fired special rubber balls at protesters to control rioters. Riot police arrested 22 people in Paris and at protests in other parts of the country. Two people have been killed in the protests so far, including a 62-year-old woman who was run over by a motorist who panicked after her car was surrounded by demonstrators.

French President Emmanuel Macron then raised the nation’s hydrocarbon tax this year by 7.6 cents

A poll this week indicated that 73 percent of people in France are in support of the protests, which have been characterised as a grassroots movement lacking in clear leadership. Mr Macron admitted failing to “reconcile the French with their leaders" and had "not given them enough consideration" but is standing firm and refusing to back the fuel taxes. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner accused far-right leader Marine Le Pen of fanning the protests in the capital. He said: ”The ultra-right is mobilised and is building barricades on the Champs Elysees. They are progressively being neutralised and pushed back by police.” In a message on Twitter, Le Pen said she had questioned why no protests were being allowed in the area. She said: ”Today Mr Castaner is using this to target me. This is low and dishonest.”

Shocking images show demonstrators waving an array of flags and ramming meal barriers into police

Fires have started in the French capital

A man armed with a grenade demanding protestors were listened to in Angers was also arrested

French police said “the 45-year-old was holding a grenade in his hands, demanding "the yellow vests be received at the Élysée" Palace, the president's official residence in Paris.” The protests are over nationwide fury about the rise of fuel costs with diesel, the most commonly used fuel in French cars, rising by around 23 percent over the past 12 months to an average of €1.51 (£1.32) per litre. The cost of the fuel is at its highest in France since the millennium.

French police locked horns with thousands of angry protesters

To make matters worse, French President Emmanuel Macron then raised the nation’s hydrocarbon tax this year by 7.6 cents per litre on diesel and 3.9 cents on petrol as on January 1 2019. He did this under a campaign for cleaner cars and fuel - but this was seen as the final straw by demonstrators. Mr Macron blamed rising world oil prices for the price rise and added more tax on fossil fuels was needed to fund renewable energy investments.

Macron has seen off trade union and street demonstrations against his changes to the labour rules