French truck drivers abandoned moving road blockades they had set up across France on Monday evening. The blockades had began on Sunday night and peaked at almost 40 on Monday. However by later afternoon only one blockade remained, according to France’s National Road Information Centre.

“It’s all over,” said a spokesman for the centre.

Union leaders denounced pressure from police and non-striking drivers to give up the roadblocks, but vowed to continue their protest on Tuesday in another form.

The blockades and protests are the most serious grassroots challenge France’s five-month-old centre-right government has faced thus far. The government has angered unions with its plan to privatise state-run companies, reform the pension system and cut spending.

The collapse of the action eases the pressure on French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin's, who had taken a tough line with the truck drivers, warning that he would not permit them to paralyse the country like they did in 1996 and 1997.

Lorry drivers had blocked off roads all across the country on Monday, in protest at the government's refusal to meet trade union demands for better monthly pay and reduced working hours. The transport unions are demanding an extra monthly salary - a common practice in France - and a 10 percent reduction in working hours.

Strikes spread from farmers action to trains and planes

Despite the lorry blockades coming to an end, France is still experiencing a wave of strikes in several different sectors.

French farmers are continuing to block the exits of food warehouses in protest of increasing prices and diminishing payment. The farmers, who began their action on November 20th, say that supermarket prices are rising while the stores pay them less and less. The French Supermarkets Association says shops will start running short of fresh fruit and vegetables any day now.

France's public sector unions are due to join in the strike frenzy on Tuesday, a move that will shut down the rail network, and could lead to a large-scale paralysis of the transport system. Further travel blockades can be expected on Tuesday after the French transport ministry confirmed that some air traffic controllers have decided to observe the strike and will therefore be cancelling a number of flights. The cancelled flights will be spread out over a number of airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa and British Airways.

French government vows to keep the country moving

France's five-month-old centre-right government feared that a concerted country-wide action would lead to a repetition of the unrest that swept the country from 1995 and eventually brought down the conservative government two years later. While some of those fears have been eased by the truck drivers’ backing down, the repercussions of Tuesday’s planned strike actions are still uncertain and potentially dangerous for the government. However, the government has shown determination to fight on and remains steadfast in its position, warning that it will not allow the country to grind to a halt.

"If a strategic site or anything vital to the daily life of French people is obstructed or blocked, our forces of law and order will intervene immediately," said the French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy in an official statement.