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French winemakers today intercepted trucks carrying cheap Spanish booze and smashed crate-loads of it all over the road.

Le Boulou tollbooth, just ten miles from France's border with Spain, was turned into a battleground this morning when dozens of protesting winemakers halted lorries and tore into their contents.

They destroyed several wine shipments, smashing the bottles and pouring the red booze all over the tarmac in a vintage demonstration of the French public's penchant for demonstrating against perceived injustices.

Countless litres of white wine and bubbly were also wasted, with shocking images from the scene depicting crates upon crates of bottles littering the scene.

One enraged grape-grower leapt onto a truck with a sledgehammer, violently swinging the tool at boxes of vino, while others flicked open the tap on one lorry, unleashing a torrent of red that soaked the road.

Another group of demonstrators piled up crates of tomatoes and tyres to make an impromptu bonfire.

Frederic Rouanet, the president of a local syndicate of winemakers who organised the protest, said the demonstration comes as part of the 'economic war against economic criminals who abuse ruined winegrowers', before adding: 'We are going to take away the possibility of being able to import foreign wines.'

It remains to be seen whether Rouanet's wine-soaked manifesto will be realised, but for now the repercussions for the protest seem minimal, as the disgruntled grape-growers were mostly left alone by police, according to French newspaper Vitisphere.