• Thousands lined streets around Arc de Triomphe as PSG held victory parade
• Thugs started throwing stones and flares and looting shops
• Police said that officers had been charged by hundreds of thugs

By Peter Allen

PUBLISHED: 21:26 EST, 13 May 2013 | UPDATED: 21:27 EST, 13 May 2013

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Hundreds of Paris St Germain football fans were involved in fights with the police tonight as a victory celebration turned into a riot.

David Beckham’s side was showing off its new Championship trophy close to the Champs Elysee when thugs started throwing stones and flares.

CRS riot police responded with tear gas, as shops were looted and cars burnt out in one of the most upmarket areas of the city.

‘It’s absolute pandemonium,’ said eye-witness Paul Reeve. ‘There are gangs of hooligans everywhere, targeting whatever they can. This isn’t about football – it’s about mob violence.’

‘The Champs Elysee is a battlefield,’ said a photographer who captured images of the violence.

‘There are youths smashing shop windows and stealing everything they can. They are also attacking cars and motorbikes.’

Thousands of Parisians had lined streets around the Arc de Triomphe as the PSG players took part in a victory parade towards the Trocadero monument, opposite the Eiffel Tower.

They were able to lift the trophy for a few minutes before the fighting broke out, and the entire event was cancelled, along with a planned cruise down the Seine. 

The famous Fouquet's restaurant on the Champs Elysee closed for the evening, along with designer shops like Louis Vuitton.

Security guards could be seen surrounding shop windows and fighting youths who were trying to break in.

‘We were overwhelmed,’ said a spokesman for the Alliance police union, saying that officers had been charged by hundreds of thugs.

PSG is now ultimately owned by the massively wealthy gulf state of Qatar and is now one of the richest clubs in the world.

Its riches helped it to secure its first Championship trophy in 19 years on Monday night, prompting celebrations by star players including Beckham, the former England captain who was signed in February.

But PSG has never been able to shake off its hooligan following. Many of them come from housing estates bordering Paris.