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where cabbies blocked roads and slowed access to airports and trains


Terrified rock star Courtney Love today told how her car was smashed up and her driver 'taken hostage' after getting caught up in violent demonstrations in Paris.

The 50-year-old actress and singer tweeted pictures and videos from inside her taxi after it was attacked by cabbies protesting against rival firm Uber.

She said: 'They've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. They're beating the cars with metal bats. This is France?? I'm safer in Baghdad.'

Her car was attacked shortly after she landed at Charles de Gaulle airport this morning as mobs of taxi drivers blockaded roads and targeted Uber drivers, even flipping some of their cars over.

The widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain tweeted rapper Kanye West saying: 'We may turn back to the airport and hide out with you.'

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'I'm safer in Baghdad': Rock star Courtney Love (left) tweeted this picture from inside her taxi (right) showing a thick yellowish subtstance on the window after the car was smashed up and her driver 'taken hostage' during violent demonstrations in Paris against rival firm Uber

'How on earth are these people allowed to do this?' The widow of former Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain posted video on Instagram showing a group of protesters threatening her driver at a petrol station in Paris

In a message posted with the video, Love said: 'These guys trying to open the doors and the cops are doing nothing?? I want to go home'

Love said she eventually managed to escape by catching a lift with two motorcyclists, but not before being attacked with rocks. She posted this picture with the message: 'We got out after being held hostage for an hour thanks to these two guys. I'm scared out of my wits'

Love then launched a furious attack on the French president over the lack of a police response.

She tweeted: 'François Hollande where are the f****** police??? Is it legal for your people to attack visitors? Get your a** to the airport. Wtf???'

The former Hole frontwoman later posted a video on Instagram showing several intimidating men surrounding her vehicle at a petrol station.

She wrote: 'How on earth are these people allowed to do this? The first car was destroyed, all tires slashed and beat with bats.

'These guys trying to open the doors and the cops are doing nothing?? French Taliban? Civil reform needed in France?? I want to go home.'

Protesters try to turn over a mini-cab at Porte Maillot in Paris as hundreds of taxi drivers converged on airports and other areas in the city

Targeted: Anybody caught in an Uber taxi saw the vehicle rocked from side to side or even tipped upside down by rival taxi drivers

It was the second wave of disruption in France this week after Monday's strike by ferry workers in Calais created six-miles tailbacks

French riot police push an overturned car. There have been similar protests in London, but today's in France is by far the most violent to date

Flashpoint: In a toughening of the French stance, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve ordered Paris police to issue a decree banning the activity of UberPOP 'given the serious public order disturbances and development of this illegal activity'

Face-off: French CRS riot police face demonstrators as striking taxi drivers block the Boulevard Peripherique near Porte Maillot in Paris

Love said she eventually managed to escape by catching a lift with some motorcyclists, but not before being attacked once again.

She posted: 'Paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by a mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks, passed two police and they did nothing.'

She later uploaded a picture of her posing on a motorbike with her two rescuers.

She said: 'We got out after being held hostage for an hour thanks to these two guys. I'm scared out of my wits.

'Mr François Hollande president or libertine? I can't believe this really just happened. Love French people, but your government blows.'

Kanye West's wife, the reality star Kim Kardashian, was caught up in taxi chaos in the seaside town of Cannes on Tuesday, where drivers were also protesting against Uber.

Today, riot police were involved in running battles with taxi drivers protesting against Uber across France, with Britons among those caught up in the chaos.

Tear gas and baton charges were used around the major Paris airports as massive traffic jams built up during the morning rush hour.

Up in flames: Striking taxi drivers burn tyres and flares during a nationwide protest against car-sharing service Uber in Marseille, France

Taxi drivers on strike burn tyres during a national protest against car-sharing service Uber, blocking road access to airports and train stations

Access to the city's ring road was blocked off, along with entrances to Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, while there were also violent clashes in other cities.

Burning tyres were placed in tunnels, causing thick black smoke, while anybody caught in an Uber taxi saw the vehicle rocked from side to side or even tipped upside down.

The mayhem follows chaotic scenes in Calais where wildcat strikes caused massive tailbacks of lorries which were promptly mobbed by migrants attempting to reach Britain.

'Officers have been deployed to deal with the trouble, which has caused huge disruption,' said a Paris police spokesman.

Police were involved in running battles with taxi drivers protesting against Uber across France, with Britons among those caught in the chaos

Demonstrators light firecrackers at Porte Maillot in Paris during protests against UberPOP, a taxi app facing opposition from traditional cabs

Smashed: An overturned car is pictured as French taxi drivers demonstrate at Porte Maillot to block the traffic on the Paris ring road

French CRS riot police arrive to intervene as demonstrators block Porte Maillot in Paris amid chaotic scene across the capital

The cheapest prices of all are offered by UberPOP, which puts customers in touch with private drivers at prices lower than traditional taxis

Striking taxi drivers run onto the Boulevard Peripherique near Porte Maillot in Paris, closing roads and blocking access to airports

Similar scenes of disruption were being played out across France with cabbies blocking access to the train station in the southern city of Toulouse and others slowing access to its airport.

In Marseille, protesters slowed traffic in the city and on roads heading to the airport.

'UberPOP is banned, but it's still here,' cabbie Stephane Molla said in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.

'We have to go through the whole routine: the licence, the rates we don't set, bans on flat-rate plans,' added another driver, Fabrice Moreau.

Out en masse: Taxis gather at a major entrance of Paris. Access to the city's ring road was blocked off, along with entrances to its airports

The French cabbies are furious at competition from Uber, the rival service based on an increasingly popular app which offers cut-price fares

French striking taxi drivers block the access to Orly airport, south of Paris, France, during a national protest against car-sharing service Uber

Travellers whose cars were blocked in traffic walk along a freeway with their baggage while trying to get to Charles-de-Gaulle Airport near Paris

Travellers try to make their way to the airport. Despite a law making UberPop service illegal, the company continues to develop in French cities

The French cabbies are furious at competition from Uber, the rival service based on an increasingly popular app.

The cheapest prices of all are offered by UberPOP, which puts customers in touch with private drivers at prices lower than those of traditional taxis.

Karim Asnoun, of the CGT trade union, said: 'The aim is to block roads because we are very angry.'

The drivers say Uber, an American company, is threatening their jobs by taking customers away from licensed cab companies.

There have been similar protests in London, but today's in France is by far the most violent to date.

Last week taxi drivers in Strasbourg, eastern France, posed as customers in order to lure Uber drivers to isolated spots where they were assaulted.

A demonstrator wears a T-shirt reading 'If you don't stop UberPOP, we will' as French CRS riot police arrive to intervene

A taxi with signs reading 'Uber taxi, Uber pharmacist, Uber doctor etc.' is parked outside terminal West at Orly Airport, in Orly, south of Paris

A sign on a taxi reads 'Hollande help! Get rid of Uber' as taxi drivers block Porte Maillot in Paris

Uber's mobile phone app puts customers in touch with private drivers who charge lower fares than registered cabs.

Despite Uber's popularity among the paying public, it is facing numerous legal challenges from the taxi lobby.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday UberPOP is 'absolutely illegal'. Paris prosecutors have promised to step up their efforts to crack down on the service.

UberPOP has been banned in France since January, with drivers risking up to a year in prison and a €15,000($16,800) fine.

A spokesman for Uber told MailOnline: 'Uber firmly condemns the recent acts of violence against Uber partners and their cars, perpetrated today in Paris and in other French cities; whatever the anger, violence is never acceptable.

'Uber wishes to underline the fact that no French court of justice has declared uberPOP illegal.'