French spies doctored files to cover up failings that resulted in jihadists murdering a priest in his church, according to French reports.

Claims that agents post-dated documents to cover their blunders have cast a fresh spotlight on counterterrorism agencies in the wake of over a string of terror attacks that have left 239 people dead in France since 2015.

Red tape and a battle of egos between intelligence managers are costing lives, according to the report published by Mediapart, the investigative news website, which conducted a six-month investigation into the blunders.

On July 26, 2016, Islamists Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Petitjean burst into a church in the small town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy and slit the throat of Jacques Hamel, the 85-year-old priest, in front of four parishioners. Police shot dead the pair as they left the church.