One of the most famous streets in central Paris was closed off and a controlled explosion carried out on a car this morning during a bomb alert.

The Boulevard de la Madeleine and surrounding roads were cordoned off to all traffic and pedestrians in the French capital after police said they discovered a bomb.

Pictures from the scene appeared to show officers focusing their investigation around a black car that was parked in the street.

One of the most famous streets in central Paris, the Boulevard de la Madeleine was closed off this morning by police investigating a possible car bomb

Officers near the Madeleine Metro station would give no further details.

However, at 11.15am, a controlled explosion was carried out on the Place de la Madeleine in order to blow a hole in the window of a small Fiat.

Police were then seen examining the car with mirrors and other equipment.

After bringing in a sniffer dog, the road was then reopened but the car remained in place.

The famous street is one of the four 'grands boulevards' in Paris, which are a chain of roads running across the city from east to west.

France is currently under a state of emergency following a string of terror attacks, which has seen officials in the capital Paris cancel a number of public events.

Pictures from the scene appear to show officers focusing their investigation around a black car that is parked in the street

After the controlled explosion, police were seen searching the vehicle parked next to Madeleine Metro

After bringing in a sniffer dog, the road was then reopened but the car remained in place

It comes after 130 people were killed by ISIS terrorists at the Bataclan Theatre and at several other locations around Paris in November last year.

It follows an attack on the offices of satirical comic Charlie Hebdo in Paris, where a gunman left 12 people dead in January last year.

Meanwhile 85 people where killed during a terror attack in Nice as they watched fireworks on Bastille Day.

And in northern France elderly priest Father Jacques Hamel was killed after having his throat cut at the altar of a church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray as he led a service.

Pictures from the scene appear to show officers focusing their investigation around a black car that is parked in the street