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French police use tear gas at yellow vest protest

Anti riot police face protesters during an anti-government "yellow vests" demonstration in Paris
Anti riot police face protesters during an anti-government "yellow vests" demonstration in Paris

French police repeatedly used tear gas and water cannons to break up a protest today by nearly 1,000 yellow vest demonstrators in the southern city of Toulouse.

A police statement said officers made five arrests after being targeted by missiles thrown by some of the protesters.

A group that observes police conduct at yellow vest protests said officers had attacked five of their number during the demonstration, injuring one of them.

The Observatory of Police Practice (OPP) posted images and video on Twitter to support their account and posted an open letter to the authorities protesting the incident.

The police headquarters in Toulouse was not available to comment on the allegations this evening.

The protest was led by demonstrators brandishing a giant banner which said "Fed up of surviving. We want to live."

They also burnt a parasol in front of a McDonald's outlet. In the capital Paris, some yellow vests joined a climate protest march.

The weekly protest came two days after the French government unveiled a draft 2020 budget with more than €9 billion in tax cuts for households.

It includes €5 billion in tax cuts for some 12 million households already promised by President Emmanuel Macron, the result of a "great national debate" he held to try to address the ongoing protests.

Mr Macron, who swept to the presidency in 2017 with a pledge to get the country back on a solid financial footing, was caught short by the "yellow vest" movement which accused the former investment banker of ignoring the day-to-day struggles of many French.  

Demonstrations have been banned on the Champs-Élysées after protesters clashed with police on the famous Paris avenue on 8 December last year, in the early days of the yellow vest protests.

On that weekend, police detained 900 people: the most since the anti-government protests began.