VIOLENT protests against the planned Lyon-Turin TGV line may have spread from Italy to France after signalling cables were destroyed in attacks near Chambéry in Savoie.

Around 30,000 train travellers heading back from ski holidays in the Tarentaise (Savoie) faced delays of around an hour after vandals set fire to cables and disrupted 100 trains, including 60 TGVs.

The Tarentaise resorts include Courchevel, Méribel, Val Thorens in the Trois Vallées, La Plagne and Les Arcs in Paradiski, and Tignes and Val-d'Isère in the Espace Killy.

Gendarmes were alerted on Saturday morning after railway staff discovered the signalling problem and immediately suspected that thieves had attacked the cables to steal copper.

However, they discovered that the cables had been sabotaged after being doused in oil and then set ablaze.

The gendarmes discovered a logo "No TAV" on one of the electronic signalling boxes - the Italian slogan for No al Treno Alta Velocità used by opponents of the planned high-speed link.

Residents in the picturesque Susa valley in Italy have led the way in protesting the planned new high-speed link between Lyon and Turin. Last Wednesday 13 police were hurt in violent protests near the town of Chianocco. Officers were forced to used tear gas to break up a protest blocking the motorway there.

SNCF press spokesman Michel Pronost told Le Figaro that he feared the sabotage had spread to France to Italy and said the attackers knew the problems they would cause.

"In targeting the Tarentaise the attackers knew it would mean severe disruption. More than elsewhere, the signalling network there is vital because the TGVs are often sharing a single track."