Armed men have stolen jewellery worth up to €400,000 from the foyer of a Paris hotel.

Police said two masked men walked into the lobby of the Peninsula hotel, near the Arc de Triomphe, just before 1am on Thursday. One man threatened staff with a gun while the other used an axe to smash four glass cases where designer jewels and clothing were on display.

The pair fled without firing any shots and escaped in a getaway car driven by a third man. The car was found burnt out shortly afterwards in Neuilly-sur-Seine, west of Paris. Police have opened an investigation.

The hotel is located on Avenue Kléber, where in December some of the first arson and vandalism took place on the edge of the gilets jaunes protests.

Paris has seen large-scale jewellery heists before. In January last year five masked men armed with axes and knives walked into the Ritz, smashed display windows and left with an estimated €4.5m worth of jewels.

In 2016 the US reality TV star Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by thieves who entered her exclusive Paris rental apartment during fashion week and took jewels worth an estimated €10m.

In Cannes in 2015, four thieves – one masked to look like an old man – stole €17.5m worth of jewellery and watches from a boutique days before the start of the Riviera city’s film festival.