Italian police on Tuesday broke up protests that were threatening the construction of a high-speed rail line between France and Italy, a project intended to form part of a grand European transport network stretching from Barcelona to Kiev.

The police dispersed demonstrators who had delayed the start of work on the French-Italian line for a week, holding rallies and camping out in the Val di Susa, 50km from Turin, capital of the north-western Italian region of Piedmont.