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Up to 250 events have been planned across France to honour Joan of Arc, a heroine of Ms Le Pen’s party, Front National (FN). Her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the FN, is expected to lay a wreath at a statue of the French heroine in Paris before he delivers a speech to supporters. Meanwhile Ms Le Pen, who had her father expelled from the party in 2015 over an anti-Semitic outburst, will be holding a rally in the French capital’s northern suburb of Villepinte.

GETTY French police are on extra high alert over potential protests over Marine Le Pen

GETTY Protester marching on May Day last year

More than 9,000 armed police and soldiers are expected to on duty in the French amid fears of an attack similar to the Champs-Elysées killing of a policeman earlier this month. France's main unions are reportedly planning their own marches in the capital city, which has caused fears there may be a clash between the two opposing groups. A police spokesman said: “The demonstration shouldn’t pose any particular problem. We’re just a little worried about radical movements joining in the workers’ celebration to upset events.”

Things you didn't know about Marine Le Pen Fri, May 5, 2017 Marine Le Pen is a French politician who is the president of the National Front, a national-conservative political party in France and one of its main political forces. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 10 Described as more democratic and republican than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image

We’re just a little worried about radical movements joining in the workers’ celebration to upset events Police spokesperson

France has remained under a state of emergency since November 2015, when a security alert was issued following the Paris terror attacks. The country was then rocked by further devastation when a lorry ploughed through crowds celebrating Bastille Day on July 14, 2016. Ms Le Pen’s rally will be opened with an address from Eurosceptic, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, whom she has pledged will be her prime minister if she wins the French presidency.

GETTY A destroyed Marine Le Pen presidential campaign poster