The French government has sought to soothe police forces demanding improved working conditions by proposing a 300-euro (£270) bonus to officers deployed to the violent protests that started last month.

President Emmanuel Macron committed to the idea of protest duty pay earlier this month. The government's offer came a day after two police unions announced work slowdowns to protest staffing and other budget issues.

Interior minister Christophe Castaner is meeting police union representatives later. It is not clear if the proposed premiums would calm the growing anger in police ranks.

Riot police were deployed on the streets of Biarritz on Tuesday to combat Yellow Vest protesters during a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to southwestern France

'We are not for sale and we can't be bought. It's certainly not with this bonus that the crisis will be resolved,' said Yves Lefebvre, of the Unite-SG Police FO union.

According to government figures, the bonus will be paid to 111,000 police officers and military personnel and will cost 33 million euros (£30 million.)

The National Assembly is expected to debate it during discussions on the 2019 budget.

Instead of a bonus, police unions are asking for the payment of thousands of hours of unpaid overtime that has accumulated over years.

They hreatening to to launch their own 'blue vest' protests against Macron after five weeks on the front-line of the Yellow Vest demonstrations.

Riot police were mobilised on the streets of Biarritz on Tuesday as the Yellow Vests took to the streets in protest of the French foreign ministers' visit to the city

The Alliance union said the government needed to invest in the country's police while urging a work slowdown on Wednesday to protest Mr Macron's planned cuts. Alliance is encouraging officers to stay inside their stations and only to respond to emergency calls.

They promised a 'black day for the police' and their own version of the 'gilets jaunes', the 'gilets bleus' or Blue Vests, according to the Local.

Another union, UNSA police threatened occupy roundabouts if its demands were not met.

The union demanded payment of overtime hours put in throughout the protests from the government earlier this month.

Protesters in their signature high visibility vests point towards riot police in Biarritz on Tuesday

'Police are not doing well and nobody is listening,' Frederic Lagache, of the Alliance union said.

Alliance say that French lawmakers are set to vote on £56 million (62 million euros) in budget cuts this week that 'will once again result in downgraded work conditions,' if approved.

Alliance is encouraging police forces to stay inside their stations on Wednesday and only to respond to emergency calls.

French police union bosses have threatened their own 'Blue Vests' if President Emmanuel Macron fails to listen to their calls for a halt to planned cuts to the police force

The beleaguered French police (pictured spattered with paint on Paris' Champs-Elysees on December 8) have faced five straight weeks of protest by the Yellow Vests

The UNSA union threatened on Monday to mimic yellow vests protests and occupy roundabouts if its demands were not met.

'The roundabouts are not reserved for yellow vests only,' the union said in a statement.

French interior minister Christophe Castaner said on his Twitter that he would meet with union chiefs on Tuesday evening.

The news comes as fires engulfed motorway toll booths on the French Riviera on Monday night and further Yellow Vest protests took place across France.

In Biarritz protesters were out in force on Tuesday to demonstrate against the French government as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited to make a speech before hundreds of ambassadors ahead of next year's G7 summit in the city.

Yellow Vest demonstrators gather during a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Biarritz, southwestern France on Tuesday

Demonstrations continued across the country on Tuesday (including in Biarritz pictured) and last night protesters burned toll booths on the French Riviera

Mr Macron had been billed to attend but the foreign minister was sent in his stead as he carries out vital work to solve his Yellow Vest headache in Paris.

Video shows how Yellow Vest demonstrators set fire to the installations at Bandol, on the Mediterranean close to Toulon, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Footage posted on social media showed the booths burning fiercely, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.

'Sixteen arrests for suspected arson offences were made soon afterwards,' said a local police source. 'All are now in custody.'

The Yellow Vests - who are named after the high visibility jackets that all motorists have to carry in their cars in France - have been blockading the booths for the past month.

They are on the A50 motorway, which runs along the Mediterranean between Marseille and Toulon.

Two Yellow Vest protesters can be seen beneath a makeshift shelter as they continue their blockades close to the Feyzin oil refinery, near Lyon on Tuesday night

It was the first road in France to trial the so-called Telepeage system - one that allows tolls to be paid automatically using a windscreen mounted sensor.

British visitors to the country are far more likely to pay by using cash or credit cards, but that is today impossible on the A50.

'The road is now shut in both directions, as the fire is investigated and the damage dealt with,' said the police source.

The Yellow Vests campaign started as a protest against green taxes on petrol and diesel on November 17, leading Mr Macron to scrap them.

Despite the U-turn, violence including widespread rioting in cities such as Paris has continued, costing the French economy millions.

Toll booths in France are run by private companies such as Vinci, which manages the Bandol station.

It says it has lost millions because of vandalism during the Yellow Vests crisis, and has called on Mr Macron's government to pay for all the damage.