At his final rally last week, he talked about "the writing on the wall", saying youths must stop hating France. But in suburbs such as Bondy, near Paris, where riots raged in 2005, it is not France but Mr Sarkozy who is the target of spray cans.

Yesterday outside Bondy town hall, a poster of Mr Sarkozy had its eyes gouged out and was scrawled with: "He dirties everything, even our dreams." Well-dressed pensioners from the smart streets of semi-detached houses which nudge up against the high-rises tutted as they arrived to vote for the rightwing favourite. "I'm voting for Mr Sarkozy to put an end to the delinquency, and stop crime in this country," said one woman accompanied by a lap-dog with a bow in its hair.

"These elderly people see you're black and think you're a criminal," said Arnaud Jardel, 23, who works for a water company and voted for Ségolène Royal.

"There are two Frances. The France of the high-rise estates is in the shit, and it won't be easy to fix. There's so much discrimination and unemployment, kids are completely demotivated.

"Sarkozy's language about cleaning up the place with a powerhose didn't help. Rioting could flare up again at any minute. If he wins, it will explode."

More than 3,000 police were on stand-by last night in Paris and its run-down suburban estates. They lobbed tear gas and used water cannon to try to chase out of the Place de la Bastillethe anarchist youths and protesters throwing bottles and stones. A similar confrontation was reported in the south-east city of Lyon.

As France's interior minister and "top cop" during the 2005 riots, Mr Sarkozy was seen by young people on the estates as enemy number one. They were offended by his lack of sensitivity over the incident which sparked the riots: the death of two teenagers electrocuted in a power substation while evading police. In the Seine-Saint-Denis region north-east of Paris, the centre of the 2005 rioting, authorities had yesterday refused all police requests for a day off. Elsewhere, around 6,000 riot police and gendarmes were on alert.

At another Bondy polling station, many felt it was the most important election for years in a state which over 25 years has known only two presidents, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, now 74. Faced with a younger leader, there was what one voter called "a real obsession" with politics. By 5pm the turnout across France was more than 75% - the highest at that stage of a presidential run-off since 1965. It went on to reach 85%, the highest since 1981.

Sadia Ben-Farh, 36, a mother of three, voted for Ms Royal, and said the next few days would be difficult if Mr Sarkozy won. "That's it! Cars will go up in smoke, the estates will flip, and it will be the start of a vicious circle - because Mr Sarkozy will then be able to say to the nation: I told you so, these areas are out of control."

Her friend, Elodie Poisson, 25, a health technician, felt torn. "I didn't vote for him because of what he has said about neighbourhoods like ours, but I feel divided. The fact that he's offering people the chance to work more to earn more, doing better paid overtime, definitely appeals."

Outside a polling station on the edge of the gentrified streets of the Marais in Paris, some voters in their 30s said they looked forward to waking up this morning to a France run by Mr Sarkozy with "a new flavour of entrepreneurship".

One fashion designer said: "Creativity in this country needs an economic boost. I employ skilled French artisans, I want to take on more of them. Mr Sarkozy gives me hope. He also wants to tax Chinese imports, which is very important for the fashion industry.

"I don't think our system of social protection will be rolled back. Chirac has been in power for years and never axed our social security."

Sunny, 30, a Martiniquan living in Paris who works for an insurance firm, said: "Mr Sarkozy is dynamic, he's already made concrete his plans for his first 100 days in power. I'm looking forward to France strengthening its position in Europe."

The CV

Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa

Age 52

Childhood Born in Paris, son of a Hungarian minor aristocrat. Deeply affected by his parents' divorce when he was five, he grew up in the home of his maternal grandfather, a Jewish doctor from the Greek city of Salonika. Said to have been motivated by feeling like an outsider with a foreign-sounding name; he once told a biographer: "I don't want to be president. I must be president."

Family Divorced, remarried to Cécilia Ciganer-Albeniz. Three sons, two stepdaughters

Education Trained as a lawyer

1983-2002 Mayor of Neuilly. Elected at 28, youngest mayor in France. Media attention in 1993 as he negotiated to end a nursery school siege.

1988 Became an MP

1993 Became budget minister

2002-07 Interior minister, for two spells; closed Sangatte refugee centre

2004 Became head of ruling UMP. As finance minister, poured state funds into saving the ailing firm Alstom