But the seaside idyll has been ruined by mounds of rotting seaweed that have settled across swathes of France's northwestern coast, giving off a potentially deadly gas.

"It's a never-ending problem. When it's hot the smell is absolutely disgusting," said Philippe, a resident in his sixties.

"Our children breathe in the smell every day. We want to know if it's dangerous for them. Will one of us get cancer one day?," said Nathalie Baussan, who lives near a waste plant used to store algae scraped from local beaches.

The problem of green algae slicks is not new in this part of Brittany.

But the issue came to a head in July when a horse skidded on a slick of algae and died, apparently from breathing in seaweed fumes.

Tests confirmed the algae was giving off potentially deadly levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), sometimes referred to as "sewer gas" because it is produced by the breakdown of putrefied waste material.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon travelled to Brittany in August to try to reassure locals the government would help clean-up the worst-hit beaches and find ways to limit algae blooms in the future.

Last week Fillon set up an official committee to report back on the problem within three months, and eight Brittany towns including Hillion have been promised financial compensation for the clear-up.

But many residents accuse the government of acting too slowly, with some 300 lawsuits already filed against the top state official in the Cotes d'Armor region, several accusing him of deliberately endangering lives.

The case files have been transferred to Paris prosecutor's office, which has opened a scientific inquiry to decide whether to pursue the matter, a judicial official said Friday.

Under pressure from residents and a local politician, a state prosecutor opened a preliminary inquiry this month into the death of a workman who spent a day clearing rotting algae from a beach, who was initially thought to have suffered a heart attack.

Green algae is naturally present in the sea and normally poses no threat. Problems arise when unusually large quantities of the microscopic plant "bloom" at sea and are then washed onto the beaches.

In this agricultural region, experts argue that the prime cause of algae blooms is pollution from animal farms, in particular those that use intensive methods to raise pigs and poultry.

Waste material -- essentially faeces and urine -- from these farms are spread onto fields in huge quantities.

From there, it is washed by the rain into streams and rivers and ultimately the sea where it becomes an excellent nitrate-rich fertiliser for green algae.

Resident groups have long been pressuring authorities to crack down on polluting farmers.

"They just need to apply the law. The law is perfect, but it is not applied," Denis Baulier of a group called "Urgence Marees Vertes' (SOS Green Tides) told AFP.

Baulier helped organise a protest Sunday on a beach in Hillion -- cleared of algae for the occasion -- where 1,000 locals and environmental activists turned out to demand swift state action.

He argues that there is no need to use the intensive farming methods he says are responsible for 80 percent of the pollution that cause lethal algae slicks.

"I'm a farmer myself and I don't pollute and there are thousands of farmers like me. I make a decent living. There's no need to use those kinds of methods."

For Alain Menesguen of the French sea research institute IFREMER, who has studied algae blooms in Brittany over the past two decades, the only answer is to "drastically" cut the amount of nitrates spewed out by Brittany farms.

But many farmers refuse to shoulder the full blame.

"Of course we take our share of responsibility," Olivier Allain, head of the Chamber of Agriculture for the Cotes d'Armor region, told AFP.

"And we are making real efforts to improve things but we are not the sole culprits. Don't forget you can have problems with green algae in areas with very little agricultural activity."

Allain argues that tourist towns that see their populations triple or quadruple over the summer, with the extra strain on sewage treatment plants, may also contribute to the green algae problem.

Switching to less intensive agriculture would have only a "marginal" effect, he insists.

Farming and its related industries of food and animal feed production is a huge sector that is by far Brittany' biggest single employer.

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