MONTREAL: Clashes erupted when thousands of Quebec students stripped to protest against a proposed tuition hike in a bid to embarrass the hosts of the formula one Canadian Grand Prix.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of student marchers stripped down to their underwear, the women thinly concealing their breasts with red body paint and the red cloth squares that have become a symbol of the protests.

Stripped off for action ... the student protest in Montreal. Credit:AFP

"Everyone naked in the street," they chanted as they banged pots and pans together -- another feature of the nightly demonstrations held across the mostly French-speaking province.

"Formula One! Polluter! Sexist! Thief!" they shouted.