* Big blow for Chirac as polls show 55% rejection

France last night appeared to have dealt a potentially fatal blow to the European Union's constitutional treaty as exit polls said 55 per cent of voters rejected it in a referendum.

Three polls from Ipsos, CSA, and TNS Sofres all predicted that the No camp had won a resounding victory, but shortly after the polls closed at 10pm local time the Yes campaign had yet to concede defeat.

The result was set to spark a political firestorm in France and stall Europe's 50-year integration drive. It could also have a knock-on effect in the Netherlands, which is due to hold its referendum on Wednesday. The latest opinion polls show Dutch voters are also likely to vote No.

Rejection in two of the EU's founding countries would almost surely kill off the constitutional treaty, designed to simplify the decision-making processes in the enlarged EU of 25 member states and deepen integration in areas such as economic and foreign policy.

But Tony Blair - who may now escape having to hold a plebiscite in the UK - will wait to see how Jacques Chirac, French president, reacts to the vote before discussing the issue with other European leaders. In a statement today, he is expected to confine himself to expressing disappointment at the outcome of the French referendum.

Mr Blair's response will be cautious in part because he believes nobody should influence or appear to pre-empt the result of the Dutch referendum.

Financial markets appeared already to have priced in the possibility of a No vote in France. The result could raise concerns about the governance of the eurozone at a time of slowing economic growth and rising political uncertainty in Germany, following the announcement last week of parliamentary elections.

The No vote is a crushing personal blow to 72-year-old Mr Chirac, who had hoped to make a referendum victory the crowning achievement of his second presidential term.

France's referendum campaign unleashed a passionate and at times ill-tempered debate about the country's identity and Europe's future. Yes campaigners blamed the government's record unpopularity ratings for contaminating the European debate.

In an interview with the FT last week, Jacques Delors, the former EU commission president, said the vertiginous fall in Mr Chirac's approval ratings had coincided with the rise of the No vote.

Bernard Bot, the Dutch foreign minister, appealed to voters not to allow the French vote to influence their national referendum.

"It's up to the French what they decide but we Dutch must make up our own minds, just as we have always done and will continue to do," he said.

Additional reporting by Christopher Adams in London .....................................................................................