FRENCH police attacked demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon yesterday as hundreds of thousands demanded President Emmanuel Macron resign over the rising cost of living.

The “gilets jaunes” protests, named for the yellow high-vis jackets French motorists are obliged to have in their cars in case of breakdown, have taken place for over a week, sparked by rises in fuel duty that the government says are aimed at encouraging people to switch to electric cars.

Demonstrators built barricades in the streets and some were filmed ripping up paving stones and starting fires, prompting Mr Macron to denounce their “shameful violence” and Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to accuse them of “sedition.”