Nine people were arrested after violent clashes erupted overnight between angry locals in northern Paris suburbs and police over the death of an arrested man, an official said on Thursday.

"Nine people were arrested on charges of taking part in armed gathering, throwing Molotov cocktails at police and attempts to set a blaze in the city hall of Beaumont," Jean-Simon Merandat, director of Val d'Oise prefecture, told France info radio.

Merandat added that calm returned in early hours of Thursday following a second night of violent confrontation which involved 200 locals in Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise, northern Paris and 180 police officers.

Crowds blazed about 15 cars and dozens of public garbage bins. They also hurled petrol bombs at a nursery school and a town hall, he added.

Violence sparked on Tuesday after a 24-year-old man died while being arrested by police.

Police said the dead man suffered a heart problem while he was taken away by officers, while his family members said police hit him during his transportation to police station.

Investigation is underway to determine the cause of the death, according to local reports.