PARIS • Paris police fired tear gas in north-western and southern Paris yesterday to drive back protesters marking the first anniversary of anti-government "yellow vest" demonstrations.

At the Place d'Italie in southern Paris, demonstrators, many clad in black and hiding their faces, set trash bins on fire and hurled projectiles at riot police while building barricades.

Clashes broke out between demonstrators and police near the Porte de Champerret as protesters were preparing to march across town towards Gare d'Austerlitz.

Police also intervened to prevent a few hundred demonstrators from occupying the Paris ring road, according to Reuters TV footage.

Some 105 people had been taken in for questioning.

"We shouldn't still need to be on the street one year on," said Ms Priscillia Ludosky, an entrepreneur whose online petition against high fuel prices helped kick off the movement.

"It's unfortunate there has been no political response, but also to see that we are slightly lacking energy in terms of mobilisation," she told the Regards news site.

The so-called yellow vest protests, named for the high-visibility jackets worn by demonstrators, erupted in mid-November last year over fuel price hikes and the high cost of living. The demonstrations spiralled into a broader movement against President Emmanuel Macron and his economic reforms.

The protests have lost strength in recent months, going from tens of thousands of participants to a few thousand, but the movement's leaders called for people to turn out yesterday to mark the first anniversary. At its peak late last year, the movement grew to up to 300,000 people.

Protests have been banned near tourist spots such as the Eiffel Tower and many metro stations were closed yesterday.

The yellow vest crisis forced Mr Macron to make policy concessions and delay the next big wave of reforms, including overhauling the pension and unemployment systems.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE