Parents complained about the youngsters being used as 'propaganda tools' after they were made to treat Nicolas Sarkozy as a hero, waving Tricolour flags and constantly shouting his name.

Some were even kissed by Mr Sarkozy, who is hugely unpopular and widely expected to lose the presidential election being held in France in the Spring.

Controversy: Nicolas Sarkozy (centre) with Mayor of Lavaur Bernard Carayon (second left) at a visit to a day-care centre in Lavaur. At a nearby infant school children were forced to chant 'Long Live Sarkozy' when he visited