Maximum security for grands départs

AROUND 13,000 police and gendarmes will be on the roads this weekend in a bid to keep traffic moving for the grands departs (people leaving for their summer holidays).

They will be targeting speeding drivers after figures showed 408 people were killed on the roads in June – a 33% increase from last year – with many of the crashes blamed on excess speed.

However, they are also under strict orders to control road rage incidents.

National roads monitor Bison Futé has warned of particularly dense traffic conditions across France, classing them as orange, with the Ile-de-France and the Rhône Valley as flashpoints, classed as red.

However, tomorrow has been declared black and it is feared there will be 500km of traffic jams with the double effects of the start of the holidays and a long weekend for Bastille Day on Tuesday.