53,000 police poised for NYE

SOME 53,000 police officers will be patrolling the streets of France tonight for New Year's Eve, the interior ministry has announced.

Roadside checks for drink-driving and illegal fireworks will be stepped up - and there will be a strong police presence in areas such as the Champs Elysées and Trocadero in Paris, where tens of thousands of people gather to see in the new year - although there are no official fireworks displays in the capital this year.

The government will be making public the number of cars torched on New Year's Eve - it was withheld in previous years over fears it might give a target for arsonists to try beating next year.

Each year youths, often in depressed suburbs of French cities, take to the streets to torch hundreds of vehicles in what has become an annual event.

The tradition has gained ground since the early 90s, with revellers seeking to cause as much damage as possible in what has become an unofficial nationwide ‘competition’.