A number of Brits travelled to France to attend a 2,500-strong NYE warehouse rave where revellers attacked police who tried to shut it down.
A police car was set on fire and bottles and stones thrown at officers at the illegal event in Lieuron, Brittany on Thursday night.
Officers suffered non-serious injuries after they attempted to stop ravers from setting up the party.
They faced ‘fierce hostility from many partygoers’, a statement from local authorities said.
More than 1,200 fines were issued for attendance of an illegal gathering, not wearing masks and non-compliance with the 8pm-to-6am curfew.
First aid workers attended the scene to distribute face coverings and hand sanitiser in an attempt to limit the spread of Covid.
Police said those present had come from across France and abroad, with some from the UK and Spain.
A party-goer named Jo told the AFP news agency ‘very few ravers had respected social distancing’.
Another, who came with four friends from Finisterre in north-west France, told Le Monde that she had attended ‘to escape’ for a few hours.
A sanitary cordon was opened around the party and anyone leaving the event was urged to self-isolate for seven days.
An investigation has been opened, with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin saying trucks, sound equipment and generators were also seized at the scene.
More than 100,000 police officers were deployed across France to break up parties on New Year’s Eve, as the country’s death toll hits 64,892.
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