UK motorists driving to France face fines of up to £117 if they fail to display a new vehicle emissions sticker.

The Crit'Air scheme requires all vehicles to show how much they pollute, on a scale of one to six.

A spike in pollution in Paris on Monday meant all vehicles with a level five sticker were banned from travelling within the city's second ring road, the A86.

The system was launched on January 15 but vehicles registered abroad will be allowed to drive in the French capital without the sticker until March 31.

Lyon and Grenoble are also operating the scheme, which could be rolled out to a further 22 towns and cities such as Bordeaux, Le Havre and Toulouse by 2020.

The stickers cost the equivalent of around £3.20 each and the categories correspond to the six European Union emission standards for cars, dating back to 1992 when Euro-1 was introduced.

Drivers who fail to display a sticker in Paris face an on-the-spot fine of between 68-135 euro (£58-£116).

Some vehicles have not been assigned a category and are therefore unable to drive in the French capital between 8am and 8pm on weekdays.

These are typically older models, such as cars registered before 1997, motorbikes and scooters from before June 2000, as well as trucks and buses from before 2001.

Classic car enthusiasts have protested against the rules, which were introduced following several smog alerts in recent months.

RAC European breakdown spokesman Simon Williams said: "Anyone caught without a sticker risks a fine of up to £117, although we understand the French police are likely to be lenient in the early days.

"While the stickers only cost around £3.20 to buy, the website is currently only in French. An English-language site is, however, due to be in operation as of February 1."