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A historic 143-year-old town hall has been “largely lost” after it was set on fire by rioters as demonstrations continue to sweep across France.

The Limoges Town Hall, in southwest-central France, was built in 1883 and was made a historic landmark in 1975.

However, it has now been mostly destroyed after the roof collapsed onto the lower floors as anti-government protests continued to sweep the country.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said the government would not be “intimidated” by violence, and blamed the unrest on the “ultra-left” and criminals just months before a presidential election next year.

Local prefect Maurice Barate told reporters: “The roof has collapsed onto lower floors, except the west wing, and two-thirds of the exterior has already disappeared.

He called it “a deliberate act by hooligans,” adding that it was a “catastrophe for heritage.”

Some 1,200 people had been arrested as part of the protests, Lecornu added while visiting the sites in the evening.

Around 550,000 people had participated in the demonstrations across the country, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.

Most protests kicked off around midday, with some beginning before the official start of the demonstrations.

In some parts of Paris, police fired tear gas rounds as they retreated in the face of mostly young protesters, many of whom were dressed in black and wore hoodies, masks and goggles to protect against tear gas.

Rioters tried to break into the Galeries Lafayette department store, smashed up banks, ransacked a Lacoste store as well as other boutiques and looted an SFR mobile phone shop.

Protesters had been setting objects ablaze all day, including numerous cars.

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The protests in France began last month at high schools in Paris’ working-class northern suburbs, where anger over teacher shortages and shabby facilities evolved into a broader movement focused on inequality, public spending and living standards.

In Paris on Saturday, protesters in high-visibility vests blocked streets, recalling the Yellow Vest movement that marked Macron’s previous term in office.

Saturday’s protests eclipsed the crowds at the peak of the Yellow Vest movement, though they were far smaller than the protests in 2023 against Macron’s pension overhaul.

Macron is entering the final stretch of his presidency, facing a fragmented political landscape and growing pressure over the economy.

Protesters said most people had marched peacefully, and put much of the violence down to troublemakers who had set out to cause damage and clash with the police.

Many held signs bearing slogans against the police, the president and the wealthy.

Lola, a 19-year-old protester in Paris, said: “We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh, because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions.”

Belgium, Portugal and Italy also faced smaller-scale protests as living costs rise in Europe, while protesters in Albania again rallied against perceived government corruption, a lack of jobs and poor education standards.

Mr Lecornu said more than 150 police officers had been injured in the protests, but did not say whether any protesters had been hurt.

Mr Nunez confirmed reports that one person had his hand torn off in clashes with police on Saturday. French media reported he tried to pick up a stun grenade.

The UNSA police union posted a video showing crowds attacking police vans with clubs and bricks in multiple locations. The union warned the government police forces were at breaking point.

A UNSA spokesman said: “Today again, in every corner of France, our colleagues are being used as punching bags. Pelted with stones, injured, trapped in real ambushes.

“Let everyone take responsibility: this cannot go on indefinitely. The rope is stretched to its maximum.”

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