Hordes of hooded men have set Brussels ablaze as violent riots ripped through the streets of the Belgian capital.
Police fired water cannons in an attempt to control marauding crowds, who smashed windows in protest of new Government reforms.
Bikes were torched in makeshift bonfires and fireworks hurled at riot police in protest against tuition fees.
Belgium's French Community Government is set to raise university fees from £722 (€835) to £1,033 (€1,194).
Despite being a low fee by British standards, the 35 per cent increase has led to widespread outrage.
Tear gas had to be deployed by riot police in an attempt to disperse the protesters.
As lawmakers were set to vote on the reform in the French Community Parliament at 2pm, rioters attempted to enter the building by forcing open doors.
Belgian police clashed with the protesters in order to prevent them from entering the chamber, local media reported.
Protesters painted red on Brussels streets, writing that it represented 'the blood of teachers and youth'
|GETTY
Mobs also tore through streets near the Belgian Prime Minster's residence and the Parliament of the French Community.
They then turned to gather in front of the police barriers on Westraat, just metres from the Prime Minister's house - before moving north along a major road, lighting flares and disrupting traffic during the march.
The rioting caused traffic jams throughout Brussels, with locals forced to find alternative routes to return home.
Protests were also held in including Namur and Charleroi, according to Belgian media, but these were far less violent.
LATEST ON BELGIUM:
- 'Violent ex-soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan' massing along Belgian coast at locations used for small boat crossings
- Belgium emerges as new launching point for small boat migrants gunning for British shores‘
- Tackle it now!’ Former border inspector issues warning over ‘serious threat’ of new small boat migrant route
PICTURED: Protesters shattered bus stop windows in the rioting
|GETTY
The tuition fee increases puts French-speaking Belgian students broadly in line with their counterparts at Flemish and Dutch-speaking universities - though the French half of the country is historically poorer and less developed than the Dutch.
Other proposed measures include requiring teachers with pupils in the final years of secondary school to take an additional two extra classroom hours per week without additional pay, and revising tenure rules.
"We will have to work more for the same wages, and working conditions will deteriorate, with more people having larger classes," one teacher at the protest - who gave her name as Marie - told Belgian broadcaster VRTNWS.
Georges-Louis Bouchez, chairman of the centre-right Reformist Movement party, accused teachers of inciting students.
Teachers and students were joined in protest of education reforms which would raise working hours and university fees
|GETTY
He told Belgium's VRT News: "I can understand that the teachers are angry, that they are worried, and that they have questions. But this is unreasonable. They must return to the classroom and stop inciting the youth, including on the basis of disinformation."
In May, the Belgian teachers' union, CSC Enseignment, called for a teaching strike to protest against the same Government reforms.
"Our aim with these measures is to free up money to re-invest in the sector," Education Minister Valre Glatigny said.
The government has also said it is headed for a €1.9billion deficit.
Debates over the sweeping "Decret-Programme 2" reforms were held until the early morning on Friday, with some parts of the Bill not passing in the French Community Parliament.