France bans UberPOP after nationwide protests

France's interior minister has ordered a ban on the low-cost car-sharing service UberPOP after a day of nationwide protests by taxi drivers.

Bernard Cazeneuve said the service was "illegal" and ordered police and prosecutors to enforce its closure.

His announcement followed a day of sometimes violent protests by French taxi drivers, who say the US-based firm Uber is stealing their livelihoods.

Key highways around Paris were blocked and tyres were burned during the day-long strike. Barriers also appeared around Marseille and Aix-en-Provence in southeast France.

Some cars were overturned and others had their windows smashed with bats.

Aeroports de Paris, the operator of the French capital's Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, warned passengers to travel by train, saying "access by road is completely blocked."

Some travellers walked along the side of the motorway to reach the airport.

Taxi drivers also blocked access to Marseille and Aix train stations and protested on the main access to Marseilles-Provence airport.

France's taxi drivers - who have to pay thousands of euros for a licence - say they are being unfairly undercut by UberPOP.

"Many taxis drivers are infuriated," Abdelkader Morghad, a representative of the FTI taxi union, told Bloomberg.

He said a law that forbids unlicensed drivers to carry paying passengers should be implemented. France's licensed drivers have lost between 30% and 40% of their income over two years because of the growth of UberPOP, Morghad said.

UberPOP is a car-sharing service offered by Uber, which brings together customers and private drivers at prices lower than those charged by both traditional taxi firms and even other Uber services.

It has been illegal in France since January, but the law has proved difficult to enforce and the service continues to operate, AFP news agency reports.