Paris, Jan 3 (IANS): Over 1,200 revellers attending an illegal rave party in northwest France on New Year's Eve were sanctioned for defying anti-coronavirus sanitary rules, the Interior Minister said.

On Saturday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that more than 1,200 party-goers were issued with penalty notices as they left the site, adding that the event's organisers were being identified and would be prosecuted, reports Xinhua news agency.

Some 800 of these people were sanctioned for non-compliance with the curfew, non-wearing of a mask and illegal participation in a rally, the authorities of Brittany prefecture announced on Twitter on Saturday.

On December 31, nearly 2,500 people, from different regions in France and abroad, gathered for a musical and dance event at an abandoned warehouse south of Rennes in Brittany, while the country has been under strict night curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The gendarmes -- the police force that oversees smaller towns and rural and suburban areas in France -- intervened to stop the illegal party but many hostile revellers clashed with the troops and some stayed on the site until the next morning, said the prefecture authorities.

An investigation was opened on the unlawful organisation of this festive gathering, it added.

The local health authorities urged all the participants of this party to isolate themselves strictly for seven days.

With no improvement in pandemic indicators in past weeks, the French government has decided to bring forward the curfew in 15 regions by two hours from Saturday.

"If the situation were to deteriorate further in certain territories, we will take the necessary decisions," warned government spokesman Gabriel Attal.

In his New Year address to the nation, President Emmanuel Macron said "the first months of the year will be difficult" with an pandemic that will weigh "at least until spring".

As of Sunday morning, France has registered a total of 2,700,480 coronavirus cases and 65,048 deaths.