Image source, EPA

We're now ending our live coverage of the protests across France, but first, here are the key developments:

• More than a million people took to the streets in cities across France, in protest against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms
• Violent clashes broke out in Paris, with some protesters throwing stones and fireworks at police and starting fires in the streets
• Riot police fired teargas and carried out baton charges, arresting at least 33 people
• The ninth day of nationwide protests and strikes over the issue saw water cannon fired in Rennes, tear gas used in Nantes, a police station attacked in Brittany and large protests in Marseille, Nice and Toulon in the south

• Macron himself was in Brussels for a summit with EU leaders, a day after defending the move to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 as "a necessity"
• Bordeaux's town hall was set on fire earlier this evening, with the blaze later extinguished by firefighters
• Unions meanwhile have called for a tenth day of strikes and protest for Tuesday 28 March
• This date would coincide with the last full day of King Charles III's state visit to the country

For more about the protests, you can read our latest news story here.

Today's live page was brought to you by Laura Gozzi, Paul Kirby, Heather Sharp, Beth Timmins and Jeremy Gahagan in London, with reporting from our team in Paris - Hugh Schofield, Marianne Baisnee and Paul Pradier.

Hugh Schofield
Reporting from Paris

Image source, EPA

In a way the battle has already been won, as Presdient Emmanuel Macron has got the pension reforms bill through.

But the protesters say they'll keep going, that there may be other means to get it overturned or they hope they'll bring the government down.

However, the law is now going ahead and the government is banking on there being a certain loss of momentum as a result.

It may also be banking on the fact that if the movement radicalises, which it may well do now - as more hardline elements take over and there are outbursts of violence on the streets - then many people will turn away and say it's no longer their fight.

That's what happened with the yellow vests - the gilets jaune - around four years ago.

But we've no way really of knowing what's going to happen in the next few weeks.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP

A number of refineries and fuel depots have been blockaded for days by unions opposed to the government's pension reforms.

The strikes have taken time to take effect but around one in six petrol stations are now experiencing some kind of fuel shortage.

It really depends which part of France you're in.

French reports say 40 of France's 96 departments are affected, especially in Brittany and Normandy in the north and much of the area around the Mediterranean coast.

The government has stepped in to ease the situation in the south, requiring minimum staffing at each depot.

But union leaders are warning that fuel shortages will intensify. In the Bouches-du-Rhône area around Marseille this morning almost two-thirds of petrol stations were reported to be out of at least one fuel.

The Paris region isn't so badly affected but the main airports at Orly and Charles de Gaulle have been warned to take precautions.

The ninth day of nationwide demonstrations and strikes across France have seen violent clashes and disorder, with bins and piles of uncollected rubbish ignited by protesters.

Marianne Baisnee
reporting from Paris

France's Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, has revealed 123 police officers have been injured across the country.

In a tweet, he also said more than 80 people had been arrested in the wake of today's protests.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, YOAN VALAT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Two shocking images have emerged from today's protests.

A police officer in Paris was dragged to safety while unconscious, as he and his colleagues came under fire from fireworks and other missiles. The officer appeared to have been hit on the head.

And in the northern city of Rouen this morning a young woman was seen lying on the ground after sustaining a serious injury to her hand. Witnesses said she lost her thumb after she was hit by a so-called "flash-ball" grenade fired by police to disperse demonstrators.

The Rouen incident has sparked outrage locally. Local MP Damien Adam, who is part of the ruling Renaissance party, says it's "clearly unacceptable" and he wants a police inquiry to find out what happened.

The far-left France Unbowed party complained that six protesters had been hurt by police tear gas and stun grenades and wants to know what orders officers were given.

Police in Rouen say two officers were also injured when missiles were thrown at them.

Videos and photos are emerging of what appears to be the front door of Bordeaux's town hall on fire.

It is not yet clear how much of the building is ablaze, or who is responsible for the conflagration - but it does appear to be a sizeable fire at the site of one of the many protests accross France today.

Marianne Baisnee
reporting from Paris

The Parisian garbage collectors, who started their strike against the pension reform on 6 March, have renewed it until next Monday, the CGT union announced on Wednesday.

I visited the waste incineration plant of Ivry-sur-Seine where workers are on picket lines and blocking access.

"We all have difficult jobs, with an impacted life expectancy in connection with the difficulties of our work, all the employees in our sector have life expectancies shortened by five to 15 years," he says.

"We tried to come together to show that when the waste sector stops working, the country is at a standstill - so that the strenuousness of the job is recognised", said Marc Bontemps of the CGT Union.

We're now learning of the numbers involved today. Up to 1.08m people took part across France, with 119,000 in Paris, according to figures from the interior ministry.

While the number is significant it's not the biggest of recent months. On 7 March there were 1.28m protesters, while 1.12m were involved on 19 January and 1.27m on 31 January.

However, the number for Paris is the highest since the the demonstrations against pension reform began at the beginning of the year.

Earlier today the CGT union had differing figures, saying 3.5m had marched, with 800,000 in Paris.

Marianne Baisnee
reporting from Paris

We're just hearing that French unions have called for a tenth day of strikes and protests next Tuesday.

This would coincide with the last full day of King Charles III's state visit to the country.

As we've been reporting, violent clashes have broken out in parts of Paris, with riot police using tear gas in response to some protesters throwing stones and fireworks.

Here are images we've gained from photojournalists working in Paris.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

We've heard from the police in Paris, who say that 26 people have been arrested at today's protests.

They say there have been 119,000 people attending the demonstrations in the French capital today - the CGT union however estimated that figure to have been around 800,000.

Hugh Schofield
Reporting from Paris

Image source, Getty Images

The big Paris demonstration has converged on the Place de l’Opera, where most people are now dispersing, but as throughout the afternoon there are continuing low-level clashes between police and small groups of rioters who’ve been throwing stones and starting fires.

Similar scenes have been reported from many other towns and cities.

Unions and the political left are calling the day a success, with once again a large turn-out of people showing their rejection of Macron's pension bill.

Where the situation goes from here is an open question. The government hopes the protests will dwindle - the opposition promises they won’t.

Protesters have clashed with police in Nantes in western France on the ninth day of demonstrations against the government's pension reform bill.

Scuffles erupted and demonstrators hurled objects at police and burned bins on the streets. The police responded by launching tear gas.

In Nice, southern France, protesters gathered in the city centre and marched to the airport where they formed a blockade.

Marianne Baisnee
Reporting from Paris

We've just seen the Motos Brav-M unit arriving in the Opera area - a controversial police unit including officers on motorbikes, which some have accused of using excessive force.

When they passed further away down Boulevard de l’Opera the crowd of demonstrators booed and hissed at them.

Image source, EPA

As we've been reporting, tension has been mounting Paris throughout the day and crowds have arrived at Place de l’Opera where police are confronting protesters.

Earlier this afternoon stones and fireworks were hurled at police as trouble flared. Riot officers then responded with tear gas and baton charges on the Grands Boulevards. Up to 5,000 security staff have been put on duty today.

At other points in the march, fires were lit in the streets which ignited some of the rubbish yet to be collected because of the ongoing strikes.

Several small fires were visible from the junction of Rue Saint-Fiacre and Boulevard Poissonnière.

According to the CGT union, 800,000 people have taken part in demonstrations in the French capital today, but these are not official estimates.

Marianne Baisnee
Reporting from Paris

Demonstrators have started arriving at Place de l’Opera in the heart of Paris.

Some bins are on fire in the area and we've heard fire crackers around Avenue de l'Opéra.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

The mood has become increasingly tense in Paris and clashes have been reported on the fringes of marches in the capital as well as in Rennes, Nantes and Lorient.

As the Paris march set off this afternoon, the leader of the moderate CFDT union, Laurent Berger, appealed for "respect for property and people".

"We need non-violent actions that don't handicap people's daily lives."

Philippe Martinez, who heads the more hardline CGT union, blames President Macron for the anger on the streets: "He's thrown a can of petrol on the fire."

The vast majority of protests have passed off without violence but some demonstrators dressed in black and known locally as "Black Bloc" radicals have been out on the streets, throwing stones and bottles at police and setting fire to bins.

Laura Gozzi
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

It's always difficult to tell just how many people take part in protests, because the organisers - in this case, workers' unions - have every interest in inflating the number of participants, while the authorities are keen to play them down.

When the pension reform was first announced at the start of the year, over a million people took to the streets to protest. Unions said two million protesters gathered on 19 January - the government put than number at 1,120,000. A further protest in January attracted a number somehwere in the region of 2,800,000 people (union estimate) and 1,272,000 (government estimate).

But the CGT union said that the numbers on both those days were comfortably beaten by turnout on 7 March, when it says three and a half million people protested. The government put the number that day at 1,280,000.

Either way, the size of the 2023 protests is remarkable.

Data from the French interior ministry shows that in the last 30 years, few causes have drawn more than one million people to the streets.

Marianne Baisnee
reporting from Paris

Firefighter Christophe Marin is from Val d'Oise to the north of Paris.

He tells me that he and his colleagues have attended demonstrations since they began.

Marin says they will continue their protests until President Macron removes his pension reform.

"We were getting a little bit demotivated, but the announcement of the 49:3 mobilised the French and us too. We won't let go!"

He's here with 130 of his fellow firefighters from his region to express his anger at the French government.

"I listened to the president yesterday and he doesnt care about the people... for him the crowd has no legitimacy.

"We will put the maximum pressure, if we have to make blockages or other actions we will do it," he adds.