Politicians have approved a bill that bans the online-superstore Amazon from offering free postage on books into France - a move that was crippling small French bookstores.

The bookstore has all but disappeared in the age of e-books and hyper-stimulation, but France is adamant the romantic little literary hideaways that form the backdrop of so many fictional encounters must stay alive.

A draft law is being considered which would expand a previous law passed in 1981, which protected small bookstores by stopping big publishers offering discounts of more than 5 per cent.

The multi-million dollar global shopping giant, Amazon, was greatly upset at missing out on fully exploiting the French market.

“Any measure aimed at raising the price of books will only reduce French people's spending power and introduce discrimination against online consumers,” the company said in a statement.

The bill is not specifically aimed at Amazon, but the company has been singled out numerous times by culture minister Aurelie Filippetti for its undercutting and tax arrangements.

Amazon reports sales in Europe via a holding company based in Luxembourg, taking advantage of the dukedom’s low corporate tax rates for earnings outside its borders.

Ms Filippetti says Amazon plans to ride in, offer the cheapest price, and: “Once they are in a dominant position and will have crushed our network of bookshops, they will bring prices back up.”

France is rightly proud of its network of independent book-dealers, bringing education and literary freedom to all parts of the country through around 800 small stores.