9:18pm UK, Thursday March 10, 2005

Strikes by French workers brought Paris to a standstill as Olympic inspectors assessed the city's venues for the 2012 Games.

Railway and energy workers, teachers, and post office staff all took industrial action against job cuts and government plans to make the 35-hour work week more flexible.

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Paris bid was a favourite

Large queues built up at railway stations across France as only one train in four was serving Paris suburbs.

Most of the capital's metro and bus system were at a standstill and half of flights to the two airports were cancelled or delayed.

A mass demonstration drew tens of thousands of people.

Unions insisted they had notwanted to disturb the work of inspectors from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who are on a four-day visit to assess Paris's bid for 2012.

The city's mayor Bertrand Delanoe said the protests could have been an asset.

He said: "Do you think the committee does not know what democracy means, that it doesn't know France and thinks the best countries are the ones where there are no arguments?

"Contrary to what people say, this could actually reinforce our bid."

The IOC's 13-strong evaluation commission has already visited rivals Madrid, London and New York and will visit Moscow next week.

Of the five contenders, Paris is widely regarded as the favourite to host the Games.