François Fillon, the French presidential contender facing charges of paying his family €800,000 (€685,000) with parliamentary funds for "fake jobs", sparked incredulity and ridicule after claiming he didn't earn enough "to put money aside".

Mr Fillon, 63, once frontrunner and now facing elimination in the April 23 first-round vote after he was hit by sleaze, appeared briefly at a loss when asked in a breakfast television interview whether he ever “managed to put money aside”. Eventually, he responded by saying: “Personally, no."

The remark from a candidate who has promised to purge France's state sector and cut spending by €100 billion in five years sparked an internet storm of mockery given recent revelations about the public funds he is accused of misappropriating for his British wife Penelope and two of their children.