France slaps British tourists with £130 fines for simple holiday habit

British tourists in France could be slapped with fines of £130 fine for a simpleholiday habit.

Mayors across a number of resort towns, including Deauville, Narbonne, and La Grande-Motte have introduced penalties for a basic beach-going occurrence.

Despite the French Riviera's reputation for toplessness in the 1960s - and British men's reputation for it today - any man who dares go shirtless can now face fines of up to €150 (£129.70).

The number of towns with a similar policy has doubled from ten to as many as 20 in the past two years, with Deauville upping its fine from €17 when it was first introduced.

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Narbonne, on the southern coast of France, fined 15 people last summer when the rules were first introduced.

Holidaymakers in the town are prohibited from walking barefoot or only wearing a swimsuit in the town centre, with women ordered to cover bikini tops with at least a t-shirt.

Mayor Bertrand Malquier said it was a common-sense decision, adding it was due to "hygiene and avoiding exhibitionism".

Owner of the Le 89 restaurant Anthony Hill, 53, said the ban was a "very good thing".

"Having bare-chested guys on the terrace can put off other customers," he added.

And in La Grande-Motte - a town with a similar ban - 37-year-old Marie told French television she supported the rule.

"If I'm out with my kids in the town centre I really don't want to see guys without shirts. It's a matter of decency — and there's also the smell when they walk past you," she said.

As a major heat wave moves into France this week, with highs of up to 40C in some parts of the country, not everyone has supported the ban.

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One man, identifying himself as Gabriel, complained the policy was "excessive puritanism".

"Let people live a little. A bare chest never killed anyone," he added.

And one holidaymaker, 55, understood the rules to be logical but said the €150 fine was "steep".

In France, there are no nationwide laws on men going bare-chested, while women could face fines up to €15,000 (£12,970), a disparity which has upset feminists.

In 2020, a row erupted after two police officers patrolling a beach near Perpignan asked three topless women to cover up after a family had complained.

The officers were accused of betraying the "French way of life" by politicians and media commentators across the political spectrum.

France's Justice Minister, Gerald Darmanin, said the Government backed toplessness on beaches, saying "freedom is a precious commodity".

Police were forced to apologise for their "blunder" and "lack of tact" over the 2020 incident which was viewed to infringe upon a fundamental right, with one member of Marine Le Pen's National Rally saying it exposed a threat to the French national identity.

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