Earlier on Thursday a crowd of thousands gathered in front of the parliament in the historic Place de la Concorde in central Paris, watched over by riot police.
They had come together to protest the controversial move by President Emmanuel Macron's government to force through their unpopular pension reform bill without putting it to the usual vote in the National Assembly.
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At around 8pm police used tear gas and water canon to clear protesters away after a fire was lit in the centre of the square, close to an Egyptian obelisk that has stood there for close to 200 years.
Following attempts to clear Place de la Concorde groups of protesters moved through central Paris where some set fire to the piles of rubbish that have been building in recent days after garbage collectors in Paris joined the strikes against the French government's pension reform.
Barricades of burning trash were also formed to block streets around Place de la Madeleine and the famous Paris Opera house the Palais Garnier in the 8th arrondissment.
Groups of protesters also set fire to piles of rubbish on Rue Saint-Honoré, not far from the Elysée presidential palace.
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Scores of riot police moved through the centre of Paris firing tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters, some of whom responded by hurling objects at police. Shop fronts were also damaged.
Fire fighters were called in to put out the burning barricades.
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By around 10.30pm French police said at least 120 protesters had been arrested in the French capital on suspicion of seeking to cause damage.
There were similar clashes between protesters and police in the western city of Rennes as well as Lyon and Nantes.
Several stores were also looted during protests in the southern city of Marseille.
Antoine Bristielle, a public opinion expert at the Fondation Jean-Jaures think-tank, told AFP that enacting such an important law without a parliament vote risked further antagonising the country and deepening anti-Macron sentiment.
"It will give another boost to the protests. It could lead to more pressure on the government," he said.
Later on Thursday Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin asked police authorities across France to give protection to local MPs and Senators.
"I'm outraged by what's happening. I feel like I'm being cheated as a citizen," said Laure Cartelier, a 55-year-old schoolteacher who had come to express her outrage. "In a democracy, it should have happened through a vote."
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