Scuffles between police and protesters outside Le Pen rally in Paris

Scuffles briefly broke out between about 60 to 80 anti-National Front protesters and police near the Zenith concert hall in north-east Paris ahead of a rally by far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a Reuters photographer saw.

Police fired teargas at the protesters, some of whom threw  chunks of wood. The protesters then left, followed by a small group of police.

French voters go to the polls on Sunday in the first round of the most unpredictable presidential election in decades.

Opinion polls have for months shown Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron qualifying for the May 7 run-off, but the gap with conservative Francois Fillon and far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon has been tightening.

FN lawmaker Gilbert Collard told reporters that on arriving at the concert hall he was hit on the neck by a beer bottle and other objects were targeted at him, before police intervened. Another FN official, Jean Messiha, said he saw a couple of molotov cocktails being thrown. Reuters could not verify either comments.

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Categories: Far Right groups, Francois Fillon, Jean-Luc Melenchon, Marine Le Pen, News, Paris, Presidential elections