France's generally jovial restaurateurs have risen up in revolt, claiming that the taxman's excessive demands are driving the French into fast-food joints, and quality restaurants into bankruptcy, according to The Guardian newspaper.

'It's the future of the French restaurant that's at stake here,', said André Daguin, a Michelin-starred chef who heads the 80,000-member hotel and catering union Umih. 'Some 3,000 of us are going out of business every year.'

Several hundred restaurant owners in Lille, Bordeaux and Caen have launched what Mr Daguin says will grow into a nationwide fiscal protest, refusing to pay more than 5.5 per cent VAT - the rate paid by fast-food outlets - when the law required 19.6 per cent.