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Riot police teargas French anti-ecotax protesters

A demonstrator waves a Breton flag at Montauban-de-Bretagneon Saturday AFP

Riot police fired tear gas at about 700 anti-ecotax protesters in north-western France on Saturday. Six traffic control cameras were destroyed in Brittany, where the movement against the tax on road freight has gained mass proportions over the last few weeks.

The CRS riot police clashed with protesters who pelted them and tried to drive a tractor through a barricade at Jugon-les-Lacs in the Côtes d'Armor region.

A traffic control camera was set on fire during the protest.

Overnight there were arson attacks on five other cameras in Briittany, where 28 have been vandalised since the beginning of the month.

Protesters have also attacked portals used to monitor lorries liable to pay the tax.

Earlier on Saturday there were protests in other parts of the country and the Breton protest movement declared that another demonsration would take place on 30 November.

The protests, which have plunged the goverment into crisis, have become smaller since the it announced it would suspend the tax but are now affecting more parts of the country.