As France gears up for more disruption and protests over President Nicolas Sarkozy’s retirement reforms, the country is warned it could be the subject of an imminent attack by al-Qaida. France, the UK and Germany are already on high alert over the possibility of Mumbai style terrorist attacks following information received by intelligence agencies.

Brice Hortefeux, France’s minister for the interior, said agencies in Saudi Arabia had been in contact to say that al-Qaida could be preparing an attack on mainland Europe, France in particular. Although he gave little in the way of detail, Mr Hortefeux confirmed that the threat was real.

French citizens have been told to remain alert, especially when travelling on public transport and when near large groups of people at popular tourist destinations. Last month the Eiffel Tower, one of Paris’ most popular tourist spots, was closed on two occasions and evacuated because of safety fears.

Some are criticising the government of scaremongering. The country is currently one step away from going into scarlet, the highest state of alert possible. At the end of September, Europe was warned that European militants were planning to return from training camps in Pakistan in order to launch an attack similar to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

Gunmen went on a three-day killing spree across the Indian city resulting in 166 deaths. Warnings earlier in the month caused France to tell anyone travelling to the UK to be extremely careful. Britain warned its citizens to be vigilant when travelling in France or Germany.