It’s a very bad time to be an Uber driver in France, especially in Paris. Furious taxi drivers have burned tires and blocked roads in France’ capital yesterday to protest what they call unfair competition from Uber.

But they didn’t stop there – groups of taxi drivers reportedly hunted down suspected Uber drivers in traffic.

Cars allegedly operating for Uber were overturned at Charles de Gaulle and Porte Maillot, on the outskirts of the city. There were reports of fights between the protesters and other drivers.

American singer Courtney Love was using an Uber car when protesters surrounded it and asked the driver to open the doors. She posted a video of the assault on Instagram and tweeted the following message:

In the end, she managed to get away by paying motorcyclists to give her a ride. Riot police used tear gas to try to stop angry taxi drivers from blocking the ring road around central Paris. Still, the protesters managed to block the road routes to Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports, forcing passengers to use train services. Some abandoned their cars and walked along the motorway in order not to miss their flights.

The cab drivers also blocked access to Paris’ main train stations, Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon. A similar situation was reported in other cities including Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, where protesters set up barriers at key motorway exits.

“They hinder us, they try to take our jobs, they try to make the job of taxi driver disappear. You have to know that these people are not registered and work without any regulation,” a taxi driver told RT.

Interestingly, France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve took the taxi drivers’ side, calling for a ban on Uber’s ride-sharing service.

Cabbies are angry that Uber’s UberPOP service offers cheaper rates than traditional cabs. The app has been banned in the Netherlands and Spain, and Uber is appealing bans in France and Germany.

VIDEO

A video posted by Courtney Love Cobain (@courtneylove) on Jun 25, 2015 at 5:19am PDT