A retired market trader who fought off a gang of armed robbers after beating them with her handbag has said she knew she could have been in danger but would “do the same again”.

French police were today interrogating a man suspected of starting fires that swept through the hills behind the Riviera and killed at least four people.

FIREFIGHTERS battled to control forest fires sweeping through southern France that have killed four people and forced thousands to flee their homes, as President Jacques Chirac promised tough penalties for arsonists.