PARIS (Reuters) - A polling station in the town of Besançon in eastern France was evacuated on Sunday after a stolen vehicle was abandoned with the engine running while voting was taking place, French Interior Ministry said.

The suspicious car was flagged as stolen and had fake number plates, a ministry official told Reuters, adding that a decision was made to evacuate the polling station, while bomb disposal experts were called to examine the vehicle.

France is voting in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday amid heightened security.

Security officials have said there is a risk during the elections of a militant attack like the ones that have killed more than 230 people in the past two years in France.

More than 50,000 police and elite security units have been mobilized for election duty across France.