Youths have clashed with police in Paris in the latest violent incident over government plans to reform the pension system.

The clashes erupted near a high-school in Nanterre. Students said police had tried to barricade the school and stop students leaving to take part in a demonstration against plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 62.

A car was overturned and set alight and police with shields, helmets and batons charged the youths, who fought back, pelting them with rocks.

Riot police in Lyon have also moved in to contain a crowd of several hundred youths.

They jeered at riot police, who advanced on the protesters banging their batons against their shields in an effort to disperse them.

The clashes come against a backdrop of strikes and protests across the country ahead of a Senate vote on an unpopular pension overhaul.

Truck drivers have staged go-slows on motorways, as rail strikes intensify and petrol stations run out of fuel.

A nationwide march is due to take place on Tuesday.