Two French police officers have been ordered to face trial over the deaths of two teenagers who were electrocuted in 2005 after running away from police, triggering the worst rioting in France for 40 years.

After eight years of legal wrangling and a campaign led by the boys' families, the appeal court in Rennes ruled that a criminal trial should take place. It promises to be one of the most important police court cases in recent years.

For eight years, the faces of Zyed Benna, 17, and Bouna Traoré, 15, have symbolised the dire relations and mistrust between police and youths in French tower blocks. The two teenagers were electrocuted while hiding in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris, in October 2005. Another 17-year-old survived with severe burns. The boys were rushing home from a football match for their evening meal during Ramadan.

A subsequent inquiry found they had not committed any crime but when they saw a police van cross their path, they fled, were chased by police and hid in a highly dangerous electricity substation. Their deaths by electrocution triggered riots on the boys' run-down estates in Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris, which soon spread across France. Riots raged for weeks on housing estates across the country - more than 9,000 vehicles and dozens of public buildings and businesses were set on fire as the government invoked emergency powers to quell the worst unrest in mainland France in nearly 40 years.

The two police officers will face trial on charges of "non-assistance to a person in danger" for failing to come to the boys' aid. The police did not notify the French energy company EDF that the boys were hiding in the substation. The officers' lawyers argued they never thought the boys were in the substation.

Siaka Traoré, Bouna's brother, told French media: "There's progress, a certain recognition." Adel Benna, Zyed's brother, said: "To turn the page we need a trial. We're waiting for explanations."

An earlier ruling that the case against the officers should be dropped was overturned by France's highest court last year. Lawyers for the police officers could still appeal against the decision to hold a trial.