Polling station evacuated due to suspicious vehicle

A polling station in the town of Besançon in eastern France was evacuated on Sunday after a stolen vehicle was abandoned with the engine running while voting was taking place, French Interior Ministry said.

The suspicious car was flagged as stolen and had fake number plates, a ministry official told Reuters, adding that a decision was made to evacuate the polling station, while bomb disposal experts were called to examine the vehicle.

France is voting in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday amid heightened security.

Security officials have said there is a risk during the elections of a militant attack like the ones that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years in France.

More than 50,000 police and elite security units have been mobilised for election duty across France.

TOPLESS ACTIVISTS DETAINED AS LE PEN CASTS VOTE

Topless demonstrators from the Femen activist group have caused a commotion as they staged a stunt against candidate Marine Le Pen outside a polling station where the far-right presidential candidate was heading to vote.

Around six topless Femen activists were detained Sunday morning after jumping out of an SUV limo wearing masks of Le Pen and United States President Donald Trump.

Police and security forces quickly forced them into police vans, confiscating their signs.

Le Pen voted at the station shortly after without further disruption.

Members of the Femen activist group have in the past also disrupted a speech by Le Pen.