Orleans to keep under-13 curfew

Officials in Orleans have imposed a seven-hour curfew for children under 13 years old.

The move has now won the support of the Council of State, one of France's top administrative bodies.

Under the decree, all children under 13 who are out on the streets alone between 11pm and 6am must be brought back to their parents.

The Council of State said that the curfew for three districts in Orleans did not discriminate unfairly against the children involved. The curfew was implemented by the city's mayor on June 15, and is due to run until September 15 - covering the months when young children are on school holidays.

Jean-Paul Forment, a senior official at Orleans City Hall, said: "We are not hard-liners or extremists. We noted a number of acts of public disorder, notably at night, with young children who were led astray."

Orleans Mayor Serge Grouard, from the conservative Rally for the Republic Party, told France-Info radio: "A child of 10 years has no reason to be alone at 1am, and sometimes in an area where the child is in danger."

The French League of Human Rights says that the curfew would further stigmatise areas, already judged to be difficult or dangerous.