Jury selection has begun in the trial of 11 members of a Hell's Angels gang in Quebec who face more than 160 charges related to the bikers' battles for the control of the city's illegal drug trade.

Two others who had been due to be tried at the same time will now face a separate trial.

More than 700 people have been asked to appear at the courtroom to take part in jury selection.

It is the first case in which the government's new anti-gang legislation has been used against the bikers and the trial is taking place amid tight security measures rarely seen in the province.

Intimidation

Access to the courtroom itself is restricted to journalists and those directly involved in the case, and they have to pass through two checkpoints and metal detectors.

Members of the public can only follow events on a video link to a nearby room.

The court building was filled with hundreds of people who were asked to take part in what is going to be a lengthy selection process.

They are only being identified by numbers. Intimidation is a real issue in Quebec.

Jury selection started on the same day that the police launched a new scheme to support bar owners trying to cope with threats from the Hell's Angels and Bandidos biker gangs.

The judge restricted reporting of the proceedings but after several hours only four jurors out of 12 had been chosen.

This is the first case where the government's anti-gang law has been tested in a biker trial.

Continuing violence

In pre-trial hearings the defence tried to argue that it was unconstitutional, but the judge said the law should stand.

It allows sentences of up to 14 years in jail to be imposed on anyone found to be a member of a criminal gang.

It comes as better co-ordination between Quebec's police forces has led to several high profile arrests, including the leaders of both gangs and the men now on trial.

Yet the violence between the gangs is continuing. On Sunday shots were fired from a car at a house owned by the Hell's Angels but no-one was injured.

And last week one Bandidos member was killed and an associate injured.

Despite the trials and arrests, there is no sign of an end to the violence.