Horrific moment woman is punched in the FACE and rammed against railings by an armed police officer as labour riots spread across France

• Officer aggressively lunges at the woman as she crosses the pavement
• He pushes her shoulder and seemingly grabs her by the neck 
• She is thrown to the floor as the man filming rushes to her aid
• It comes in the wake of numerous violent demonstrations across France
• Thousands are protesting over laws that may end 35-hour working week
  

This is the shocking moment a middle-aged woman was aggressively shoved and thrown to the floor by a policeman during a protest in France.

The horrifying incident in Toulouse on May 26 shows the lady crossing a pavement before the uniformed officer forcefully lunges at her pushing her shoulder and seemingly grabbing her by the neck.

Her head is violently thrown back as she is rammed against a railing before falling to the tarmac. 

Jean Durand, a member of the powerful CGT union, which is leading the call for walkouts across the country, said: 'The nation is angry, and has every right to express itself... we'll continue our protests until the government backs down.'

Masked protesters have smashed windows of shop fronts, and petrol pumps nationwide have run dry, causing huge queues on the roads after oil production was frozen by strikes at refineries. 

Up to half of the country's 12,000-odd petrol stations are now empty, as riot police were sent in to try and lift blockades of fuel refineries.

By this afternoon, all but one of the blockades manned by union activists had been cleared away, a government spokesman said, adding that the situation is 'improving everywhere, all over the country'. 

It came as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned that 'this country is dying from its inability to reform'.