French President Emmanuel Macron has advocated increasing the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 and French citizens have been in an uproar.

Since mid-January, the country has faced repeated nationwide strikes and riot police have been dealing with increasing violence.

The French National Assembly rejected a vote of no-confidence against the Government of Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, in the aftermath of the massive protests.

Macron was forced to appear on TV to ask for ‘calm’ from the population in late March to no avail. Protests, blockages and confrontations intensified as an estimated 3.5 million people took to the streets against Macron’s Pension Reform ‘by decree’.

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On Friday,  the despised reforms were approved by the Constitutional Council and large scale protests began almost immediately and turned violent.

The Daily Mail reports:

Police used tear gas in Lyon and Strasbourg and water cannons in Paris to control the streets, while protesters set fires, built barricades and let off flares in the centre of the capital.

Officers were seen charging down streets in cities across France as they battled protesters angry about the reforms. In Nantes, a police station was briefly set on fire by rioters before being extinguished.

Police used tear gas in Lyon and Strasbourg and water cannons in Paris to control the streets, while protesters set fires, built barricades and let off flares in the centre of the capital.

Officers were seen charging down streets in cities across France as they battled protesters angry about the reforms. In Nantes, a police station was briefly set on fire by rioters before being extinguished.

Protesters are marching on the centre of Paris, with 3,000 people already assembled outside the town hall by 5pm BST, according to French media.

Demonstrations are taking place in major French cities including Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, Lyon and Nantes.

In Paris protesters have let off flares and set fire to bikes outside the town hall, triggering a significant response by police. Dustbins and other items have also been set on fire around the city.

Some have erected barricades in the streets of the capital, using sheets of metal, bins, wood and fire. A march is approaching the Place de la Bastille, where the infamous Bastille prison once stood.

Police have arrested some protesters, including around a dozen young people who were pictured being detained by officers with batons and tear gas.

In Nantes, bottles and other projectiles have been thrown at police by some protesters, causing the police to respond with water cannons. Protesters are attempting to disrupt major roads and tramways by creating lines of burning dustbins.

Shortly after 8pm BST, a Nantes police station was set aflame by protesters, with the entire entranceway alight, before a water cannon was used to extinguish the flames.