The French government has announced more than $600m (4bn francs) in aid to help people clear and repair the damage left by severe storms at the end of last year.

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said the money would be given to households, farmers, forest owners and fishermen.

Mr Jospin admitted that France was still struggling to cope with the devastation from the storms and a huge oil spill from the tanker Erika off the west coast over Christmas.

"The gales which struck our country a few weeks ago and the sinking of the Erika have had, and are still having, horrendous consequences for many of our citizens, their loved ones, their possessions, their lives," he said.

Thousands of people are still without electricity or phone services in France because of the storm damage, which Mr Jospin estimated had cost French public services $3bn.

The government has set aside a further $2bn to help cut and clear felled trees, together with another $1bn over 10 years to restore damaged forests.

The freak gales which tore through much of western Europe over the Christmas weekend killed 88 people and countless animals in France.

They flattened 270 million trees and toppled power lines, cutting off up to a quarter of the electricity grid.

High winds flung tonnes of oil from the sunken tanker Erika onto beaches along some 400 km (250 miles) of coastline, with disastrous consequences for fishing and tourism.

Mr Jospin said the state had signed a contract with the ship's charterer TotalFina to pump out the 20,000 tonnes of fuel oil believed to be still inside the wreck.

Fisherman and shellfish breeders have been allocated about $50m to help them recover.

The European Union on Wednesday denied a request from France for more storm aid, saying that some of the $5.4bn the country gets over the next six years could be used for reconstruction.

Meanwhile, the park surrounding the palace at Versailles on the outskirts of Paris will be partially reopened on 15 January.

Around 10,000 trees in the park were destroyed by the hurricane-force winds on 26 December.