Parisians driven to revolt by car ban in fight against pollution

The famously testy Parisians have one more reason to grumble after the French government announced that half the cars in the city would be banned from the roads, starting on Monday, in an effort to combat smog pollution.

From 5.30am, a scheme of alternating driving days, based on odd and even number plates, will come into effect for cars and motorcycles after Paris pollution reached dangerous levels for five consecutive days.

Even before the restrictions were announced, Parisians were given free travel on buses, metros and public bikes over the weekend. The smog hanging in a haze over the French capital is the result of a string of warm days and cold nights and has caused the worst pollution levels since 2007.

A revolutionary streak runs through French society. Rules are made to be broken, as anyone who has tried to use a pedestrian crossing in Paris knows. Parisians interviewed on Sunday said that, particularly in the case of those working in the suburbs, their car is essential for travel and they would be prepared to defy the temporary ban and risk incurring a €22 (£18) fine.

Warehouse worker Jean Sanglier lives in the eastern Paris suburb of Chelles and drives to work in Neuilly-Plaisance, eight kilometres to the west. "How will I get to work?" he said. "It takes 20 minutes by road, and one and a half hours on public transport." He added that if he is fined, "it's my boss who's going to have to pay."

Parked cars lined the roads running through the Bois de Vincennes – the city's largest park – on Sunday as Parisians enjoyed a glimpse of sunshine but a new spike of pollution is expected this morning. A market stall holder in Vincennes said he didn't know how he would be able to get to the wholesale market at Rungis on Monday without driving there. "Twenty two euros isn't very much," he said, referring to the fine.

A saleswoman from Nogent-sur-Marne also planned to defy the ban: "I can't use mine on Tuesday and I can't get from one suburb to another on public transport." So would she take the car? "You've got it," she replied.

Seven hundred police will be deployed in Paris and 22 surrounding areas to monitor the scheme, which will be enforced for the first time in 17 years. Last time, according to Pierre Chasseray, who is a member of a pressure group campaigning against the measure, it was a "fiasco". "This measure is worse than unjust, it's stupid," he said.

The Automobile Club Association warned in a statement that the restrictions would cause chaos and added it would "penalise low-income households and suburban families who need a car, and cause additional economic costs."

The government scrambled to issue a list of exceptions, which include electric and hybrid cars, taxis, and cars with at least three people on board to encourage car-sharing. But all trucks will be banned.

Minute PM10 particles (less than 10 micrometers in diameter) emitted by diesel exhausts, heating systems and industrial emissions, are blamed for the pollution. The safe limit is 80 microgrammes of PM10 particulates per cubic metre, but on Friday, the level peaked at 180 microgrammes prompting authorities to urge people to stay indoors as much as possible and to leave their cars at home.

According to the Paris Air Quality Index, Friday's level was as bad as that in Beijing, one of the world's most polluted cities where policies of alternate driving are enforced during smog emergencies. A French television report pointed out that Rome has also introduced alternating driving, carrying penalties of €155.

Clean Air in London tweeted on Friday morning that London's pollution level was "worse than Shanghai (having a bad day) and over twice Beijing."

By Sunday evening, French weather forecasts were predicting that although high pollution levels would return on Monday, they may not reach the records of last week.

With municipal elections scheduled for next Sunday, the emergency smog-tackling measure brought in by the Socialist government and endorsed by their Green coalition partners risks becoming a political football in the polls.