France's constitutional court on Friday approved the key elements of President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform, while rejecting certain parts of the legislation.

The banner reform in the legislation was to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 was validated by the Constitutional Council after almost three months of protests opposing the measure.

The court struck out six measures not seen as fundamental to the essence of the reform and threw out a request filed by the left for a referendum on an alternative pension law that would keep the retirement age at 62.

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In response to the news, former French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon declared that "the fight continues", while the leader of the Greens Marine Tondelier labelled the reform "illegitimate."

"The decision of the Constitutional Council shows that it is more attentive to the needs of the presidential monarchy than to those of the sovereign people," tweeted Jean-Luc Mélenchon. 

He added: "The struggle continues and must gather strength."

The court's decision comes on the back of weeks of protests against Macron's controversial reforms involving millions of people across the country.

The latest wave of protests took place on Thursday. The country's interior ministry estimated that 380,000 people took to the streets, compared to 530,000 the week before. 

Though sizable, those numbers are down on the 1.3 million who protested at the height of the demonstrations back in March.

Clashes between protesters and police were reported in several cities, including in Paris, Rennes and Nantes. Prior to the Paris march starting, more than 100 railroad workers briefly invaded luxury group LVMH's headquarters near the Champs-Elysees. 

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