Alain Juppe has said he will not be a replacement for Francois Fillon if the embattled conservative candidate quits the French presidential election.

Mr Fillon, who defeated Mr Juppe in the race to become the Republicans party candidate, is under pressure to step down over the "fake jobs" scandal.

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Former prime minister Mr Juppe said the election was being held in "confused" conditions but added: "I confirm for a final time that I will not be a candidate to be president of the republic."

He said "it's too late" for him, despite some figures in the party calling for him to step in.


Image: Mr Juppe announced he will not step in if Mr Fillon quits the presidential race

The mayor of Bordeaux also criticised Mr Fillon, whose defiance of the justice system and criticism of the media had "led him into a dead-end".

Meanwhile, allies of former president Nicolas Sarkozy - who was also defeated in the Republicans' primary - are reportedly asking Mr Fillon to find a replacement candidate.

Mr Fillon has seen his support dwindle after he disclosed he will face charges over corruption allegations that he gave his family fake parliamentary jobs.

He has vowed "no one" could force him to quit despite calls for him within his own party to step down.

Former PM Mr Fillon was in a defiant mood after holding a rally in Paris on Sunday attended by tens of thousands of supporters.

"No one today can prevent me being a candidate," he said in a TV interview in which he again insisted an investigation into the payment scandal was politically motivated.

"Of course it is aimed at stopping me being a candidate," he added.

Defiant Fillon insists 'no one can stop me'

Polls suggest far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen and centrist independent candidate Emmanuel Macron will come out on top in the first round on 23 April.

The two contenders with the most votes then go through to a presidential run-off on 7 May.

A poll on Sunday suggested Mr Juppe would have a better chance at reaching the run-off than Mr Fillon.

Mr Fillon was the frontrunner until mid-January when the Canard Enchaine newspaper claimed he had paid his wife, Wales-born Penelope Fillon, and two of their children nearly €900,000 (£780,000) as parliamentary assistants or advisers.

Under French law, politicians are allowed to employ family members but investigators are trying to discover evidence of what work she did carry out.

In her first interview since the allegations emerged, Mrs Fillon told Le Journal du Dimanche she had carried out a "lot of different tasks" for her husband and urged him to "keep going to the end".