Search engine company Google is facing the biggest damage claim in a lawsuit over antitrust in a court in France.

French search engine 1PlusV has sued Google for 295m euros (£264m), according to a report by the BBC.

It is the largest damage claim Google has faced in Europe.

In March this year, French regulators had fined Google €100,000 ($142,000) for collecting private data over unencrypted WiFi networks without the knowledge of users for Street View.

The company is also reportedly facing an investigation from the US Federal Trade Commission.

1PlusV has accused that Google used its market dominance to kill competition and unfairly pushing its own service over others. The company filed its first complaint with the EC in February 2010.

1plusV founder Bruno Guillard said, "Our actions benefit not just one company, but all players in the booming vertical search business."

"Google employed a number of anti-competitive practices and unethical behaviour over a period of four years to cripple 1plusV’s ability to generate business and advertising," it said in a press release.

Google has not commented on the matter so far. It said, "We have only just received the complaint so we can’t comment in detail yet. We always try to do what’s best for our users. It’s the key principle that drives our company and we look forward to explaining this."