PARIS: French anti-riot police fired teargas on Saturday as clashes erupted during protests in central Paris against COVID-19 restrictions and a vaccination campaign, television reported. Police sought to push back demonstrators near the capital's Gare Saint-Lazare railway station after protesters had knocked over a police motorbike ridden by two officers, television pictures showed.

Images showed a heavy police presence on the capital's streets. Scuffles between police and demonstrators also broke out the Champs-Elysees thoroughfare, where teargas was fired and traffic was halted, the television pictures showed.

At another protest called by far-right politicians in west Paris, demonstrators opposed to anti-coronavirus measures carried banners reading "Stop the dictatorship".

Across France, protests were planned in cities including Marseille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse. French lawmakers are due to vote this weekend on a bill drafted by the government aimed at setting up a health pass and mandatory vaccination for health workers.