Hundreds of thousands of people take to French streets amid fears of violence

Minister says 13,000 police deployed as Macron vows not to waver on unpopular pensions policy

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in street protests and strikes across France amid fears of violent clashes with police, as demonstrations continue over Emmanuel Macron's use of constitutional executive powers to push through an unpopular raise of the pension age.

The interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said 13,000 police had been deployed, 5,500 of them in Paris alone. He said the record number was justified by a major risk to public order".