Farmers protest disrupting traffic

HUNDREDS of tractors are converging on Paris today in a protest by farmers, causing severe disruption to traffic.

Farmers from all over the country have been travelling to the capital in recent days, spending Wednesday night sleeping at motorway service areas on the outskirts of the city ahead of today's go-slow protest.

They will block the péripérique ring road this morning before heading into the centre of town.

It is estimated that as many as 2,000 tractors and 4,000 farmers are taking part in today's demonstration. The Paris préfecture is urging residents to leave their cars at home and take public transport.

About 1,000 CRS riot police are on the streets of Paris as a precautionary measure.

#AvenirAgri C'est parti Les paysans aujourd'hui à Paris pour leur avenir, votre avenir, celui de l'Agriculture pic.twitter.com/1Tv5fudDhk— La FNSEA (@FNSEA) September 3, 2015

Union representatives will attend a meeting with prime minister Manuel Valls at Matignon. Farmers' group FNSEA says an emergency plan is needed to save France's agriculture industry.

The protest comes ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the Agriculture Council of the European Union in Brussels next Monday, where EU agriculture ministers will discuss the financial crisis affecting the sector.