In the southern port of Marseille, rubbish bins were set ablaze and metal sheets used to block streets. A law enforcement vehicle was seen driving through a burning barricade in France’s second-largest city.

Meanwhile, some protesters in dark clothing and face coverings were seen taking boards off a building to build a street barricade in the southern city of Bordeaux.

In Lyon, police used tear gas grenades to disperse a crowd which had reportedly gathered in an area deemed off-limits by the local prefecture.

“There were around 150 of us, mostly secondary school and university students. Then the tear gas came almost immediately. You could barely see anything in the street,” said one protester in France’s third-largest city.

Nuñez said late in the day that nearly 1,000 people had been arrested, a number he said would increase.

The minister also said two people had been “seriously injured”: one in the south-western city of Toulouse, and another one in Clermont-Ferrand, central France.