Nicolas Sarkozy, French interior minister, on Monday delivered a grim reckoning of the damage inflicted by three weeks of rioting as he proposed a new approach to regional policy and policing aimed at preventing future unrest.

Speaking in Paris to prefects, the government’s representatives in the regions, Mr Sarkozy said more than 200 public buildings had been set alight, 10,000 cars damaged and 4,500 people placed in custody since the riots broke out on October 27.