Paris in pollution crackdown

ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION

France deployed hundreds of police in Paris on Monday (March 17) to enforce the most drastic curbs on car use in 20 years as authorities sought to reduce health-endangering pollution days before town hall elections.

Amid concerns of a worsening air quality after a week when unseasonably balmy weather boosted pollution, public transport was free of charge while drivers with even-numbered licence plates were told to leave their cars at home of face fines.

Paris is more prone to smog than other European capitals because of France's diesel subsidies and its high number of private car drivers.

Some 700 police manned key entry points to the city from before dawn to apply the scheme, in which drivers may only use their cars on alternate days depending on whether their licence plates finished with an odd or even number.

At Porte Maillot on the West of Paris, around 20 police were looking out for offenders.

The restrictions d