French farmers are going to flood Paris with tractors

French farmers are planning to flood Paris with more than a thousand tractors in a protest against the government.

France's biggest farm union FNSEA will swarm the capital today, with around 1,000 tractors and 3,000 farmers, in a bid to ask for more subsidies and cash as they say that €600 million (£442 million) a year is not enough for them to tackle low prices and high costs within the livestock and dairy industry.

"The idea is to put pressure on Paris," Luc Smessaert, FNSEA's deputy chairman, said to Reuters in an interview. "Never before has there been such a large number of tractors hitting the roads (in a protest)."

French President Francois Hollande last week said that the government would announce new measures for farmers today.

The photos of the protest already look pretty incredible. Here are some taken this morning by Reuters' picture agency.

Here is a fleet of French farmers from the country's western regions on the A10 motorway, outside Paris.

Reuters

Hundreds of tractors were heading towards Paris for a protest due to take place on Thursday

And here, you can see how tightly-packed the convoy of tractors are along the motorway.

Reuters