Coach go-slow protest hits Paris

COACH drivers are planning to disrupt traffic in Paris today in a protest about the soaring cost of bus parking.

At least 50 coaches are taking part in the go-slow movement, organised by the European road transport organisation Otre.

They set off from Tremblay-en-France in the Seine-Saint-Denis at 8.00 and are making their way to the centre of the French capital at a snail's pace, finishing this afternoon around the Ecole Militaire.

The Mairie de Paris has agreed to meet some of the drivers taking part to hear their concerns.

They are protesting about a plan from May 1 to treble the cost of coach parking in central Paris for buses that do not meet strict criteria relating to emissions.

Coach groups say the measure will be counter-productive as it will encourage drivers to keep driving around the city without passengers instead of parking.

Traffic is likely to be disrupted today on the périphérique and in the area around Trocadéro and the Champ de Mars.

The rise in coach parking fees is the latest in a series of measures aimed at tackling pollution in Paris, a city that wants to ban diesel cars by 2020.