By Alasdair Sandford BBC News, Paris

The scenes in Villiers-le-Bel were reminiscent of those from 2005

The violence in the suburbs north of Paris has brought to the surface the simmering resentment and hatred among many young people in poor French suburbs towards the police.

The trouble spread to several towns in the Val d'Oise department, leading to fears of further outbreaks and a possible repeat of the wave of urban violence in 2005.

The area affected this time is on the outer fringe of the Parisian suburbs, some miles from the area of Seine-St-Denis which witnessed some of the worst trouble two years ago.

The violence on Monday night was worse than during the previous evening.

Cars were set on fire - two schools, a library and shops were badly damaged.

Gangs of youths fought running battles with riot police in the streets.

Different versions

One police union has said there are worrying signs that the nature of the violence is more dangerous than in 2005.

Police are worried that violent action is even more dangerous now

Firearms were reportedly used against the police.

One officer was hit in the arm by what was described as a "large calibre" bullet.

Many in Villiers-le-Bel do not believe the authorities' version of events on Sunday night.

The initial results of a police inquiry suggested that officers were not to blame for the accident that killed two teenagers.

The local prosecutor said the boys' motorbike had crashed into a police patrol car at high speed, adding that three witnesses had backed up this version of events.

Police responsibility

Questions remain over the build-up to the collision and the police response to it.

The fathers of the dead boys want justice

There have been accusations that officers did not do enough to help the youngsters lying in the road.

One police source said more investigations were needed, but here again the inquiry does not seem to be working on the premise that any "serious error" was committed.

"The cops, they have all the rights," one resident told the newspaper Liberation.

"We must get revenge," he added, "they left [the scene of the crash] as if they'd just run over a pigeon."

The French Interior Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, said she believed the trouble was organised.

On Monday she visited the families of the two dead teenagers.

Lawyers for the families have announced they are to seek a judicial inquiry.

One of them, Jean-Pierre Mignard, also acted for the families of the two boys from the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, whose accidental deaths sparked the rioting in 2005.