Industrial chaos looms in France

France looks set for a week of industrial mayhem, with more strikes expected in protest at government pension reform.

Motorists are rushing to petrol pumps that are running increasingly dry, and a strike by train workers promises to spell misery for millions of commuters.

Truckers are promising to clog roads across the country from the early hours of Monday.

Didier Le Reste, head of the rail workers federation at the CGT union, said: "The start of the week will see a widening of the strike, with more sustained action in sectors such as road transport, energy, posts, telecommunications and metallurgy, public service and commerce."

At the weekend, riot police clashed with anti-capitalist demonstrators in Paris, arresting at least 30.

After a largely peaceful demonstration a group of youths wearing black shirts and hoods started to break the windows of a bank and hurl flares in the centre of the French capital.