Police sent reinforcements to the troubled northern Paris suburbs today after a night of rioting revived fear of a return of the violence that raged through France’s immigrant housing estates last autumn.

In another sign of France’s continuing racial tension the Government also ordered a high-level police inquiry into an anti-Semitic black extremist group which staged an aggressive march through the historic Jewish quarter of the capital at the weekend.

Seven policemen were injured in the four hours of fighting last night in the town of Montfermeil which involved some 400 local officers and national riot police. In the fiercest clashes since last autumn, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades against youths, many masked and wielding baseball bats.

About 100 youths hurled projectiles and petrol bombs at police and public buildings and attempted to storm the home of Xavier Lemoine, the conservative mayor of the town. The violence was sparked by the arrest of a suspect in the beating of a bus driver earlier this month.

The Montfermeil violence spread into the edge of neighbouring Clichy-sous-Bois, the flashpoint for last year’s riots. Two youths were electrocuted there in October while hiding from police in an electricity substation.

Dominique Perben, the Transport Minister, called the overnight incident a reminder of last year’s riots, in which 10,000 vehicles and 200 public buildings were torched.

"The question of the suburbs is a question for the entire political class," said M Perben. We must have the courage to look things in the face."

More than 400 teenagers and young men were sent to jail after the riots, but community leaders have complained that little has been done to answer the grievances of the alienated young in the high-unemployment estates.

Montfermeil has been a focus of tension since Mayor Lemoine decreed a bylaw last month that banned teenagers from circulating in groups of more than three, and required those under 16 to be accompanied by an adult in the centre of the town. A court quashed the bylaws after protests from civil liberties groups.

The Socialist opposition blamed Mayor Lemoine for fostering the violence in his town with his attempt to restrict the movements of youths. "No act of violence can be excused... but the Mayor of Montfermeil has created a local situation which is a factor in the violence," said Francois Hollande, the Socialist leader.

"If you stigmatise the young to the point of not allowing them to gather in groups of more than three... you have a context which can unfortunately become favourable for this type of rioting."

Politicians and Jewish organisations united today in condemning the acts of the so-called Tribu KA black supremacy group which has come to light this week.

About 30 muscular men in black garb staged a show of force, intimidating passers-by last Sunday in the rue des Rosiers, the Jewish quarter in the Marais district.

"They were all tough guys, wearing black bandannas - it was really organised, they had a camera and were filming everybody," one witness said.

Members of the group were also reported to have visited sports centres in search of activists in two hardline Jewish youth groups, Betar and the Jewish Defence League.

On its website, which was taken offline today, Tribu K accused the Jewish groups of staging racist attacks against blacks during marches held in tribute to a young Jewish man who was tortured to death on a mainly black housing estate last winter.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister, today promised tough legal action against the group when he met Roger Cukierman, the head of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRCIF).

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