Blow for Italy's PM as 5-Star makes breakthrough in regional, mayoral votes

Five-Star, which feeds off popular anger over widespread graft, won in 19 of the 20 towns or cities where it had advanced to the run-offs, including Turin and Rome, where Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old lawyer, became the first woman mayor.

The party has so far controlled just a handful of medium-sized towns. Success in Rome and Turin could prove a springboard to victory in national elections due in 2018.

Protest parties have made inroads in a number of European countries in recent years and 5-Star's advances in Italy this weekend mean a major European Union capital will be governed by a party which wants Italy to drop the euro.