Paris banishes through-traffic from city centre

Paris has banned through-traffic from parts of its historic centre to cut pollution and congestion, with the city’s police chief vowing however that the new rules would be enforced with a light touch.

Cars and other motorised vehicles including motorbikes are no longer able to go into the French capital’s first, second, third and fourth districts – or arrondissements – unless they have business there.

The area of 5.5 square kilometres includes the Louvre Museum, the glitzy Place Vendome, the Tuileries Gardens and the historic Marais neighbourhood as well as many cultural venues and shopping areas.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long sought to limit car traffic in favour of less polluting means of transport, notably bicycles.

Over the past decade, the city has turned several areas previously dominated by cars over to cyclists and pedestrians, including stretches of the banks of the river Seine.

Much of the busy Place