France, March 9 -- French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Sunday that the government would conduct "an exceptional plan of 500 inspections" at petrol stations across the country between Monday and Wednesday in order to prevent "unfair price increases at the pump".

Writing on the social media platform X, the prime minister warned that the conflict in the Middle East must not be used as a justification for inflated prices.

"The war in the Middle East cannot be used as a pretext for excessive price increases at the pump," he said.

The inspections will be carried out by France's fraud prevention agency, the DGCCRF. According to Lecornu, the three-day operation represents "the equivalent of a full six months of the usual inspe...