France witnesses drop in number of vehicles torched on New Year’s Eve

According to the interior ministry, the number of cars set alight on the night of December 31 fell from 1,067 a year ago to 940.

The French government reported a 12-percent drop in the number of cars torched on New Year's Eve – a ritual among revellers in the country's high-rise suburbs.

This year also saw fewer arrests for disturbances on New Year's Eve, falling from 322 in 2013 to 308.

The ministry credited the “substantial, active and dissuasive mobilisation of the security forces” with keeping the seasonal crime wave in check.

The government had increased security during the holiday period following three violent street attacks in the run-up to Christmas, in which one person was killed and over 20 injured.

In two of the attacks, the assailants shouted the Islamic phrase "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater).

Over 90,000 police, gendarmes, soldiers and emergency service workers were deployed to protect the public on December 31.