French police locked horns with thousands of angry protesters who stormed the streets with placards and wearing yellow vests before hurling objects at riot police and starting fires. Shocking images show demonstrators waving an array of flags and ramming metal barriers into police, with some being dragged away from the scene by officers. Paris was last night under a fog of tear gas, with demonstrators also being targeted with water cannons to fire at police. Officers were also seen edging closer to protestors using a wall of their shields. 

A trailer was set on fire and exploded on the Champs Elysees and a man who tried to attack fire fighters was overpowered by some of the demonstrators themselves.

On the nearby Avenue de Friedland, police fired special rubber balls at protesters to control rioters.

Riot police arrested 22 people in Paris and at protests in other parts of the country.