Police used tear gas canisters to disperse protesters who rallied against pension reforms in Lyon, as President Emmanuel Macron gave a primetime TV address defending the measures, on Monday.

Footage features protesters gathering in front of Place des Terreaux, holding flares, and chanting. A banner was seen reading ‘precarious authority’ as well as a flag with the motto ‘live working or die fighting’.

“He (Macron) must give power and retreat this reform, stop treating the French people and also non-French like idiots. He must quit because he has nothing to do where he is now," said one protester, Veronique.

Later, fires are seen burning in the streets, as well as clouds of smoke and tear gas.

“All this went too far and for me, a new government is needed. I do not wish for anything else. I don’t expect anything else from Emmanuel Macron," said another demonstrator, Mae.

According to the local authority, the town hall was stormed and a fire was lit at the police station.

In his address to the nation on Monday evening, Macron promised new measures to improve salaries and working conditions, as well as education, law and order and healthcare, after signing off on his new pension reforms, which have led to huge protests across the country since they were announced in January.

The government passed the measures, which include raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, without a vote in the National Assembly, and the Constitutional Court approved the changes on Friday.

The administration has argued that the reforms are need to keep the system solvent. Following the president’s speech, workers’ unions vowed to continue the fight against the changes.