A French chauffeur who worked for Harvey Weinstein in Cannes has told of driving around tearful aspiring actresses after their encounters with him, and accused the film producer of beating him up when prostitutes he expected to meet did not show up.

“We were all afraid of him,” said Mickael Chemloul, who worked for the New York producer from 2008 to 2013. “When he came back angry, he was unmanageable, agonising. He was suffocating.”

Mr Chemloul said that much of his work was ferrying around women – some young actresses, and others models - for Weinstein.

“I had the feeling of driving poor innocent people, innocent girls, to the jaws of the wolf and I could not say to them: ‘Be careful where you’re heading – it’s dangerous,’” he told French TV channel BFMTV.

“When they left Weinstein’s place, there was sadness; they were melancholy. I didn’t know what had happened, but I had to console them – offer them water, or a cigarette.”