TWITTER Armed guards have been deployed

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Voters were rushed out of the polling stations after a stolen vehicle was abandoned outside with the engine running while voting was taking place. Bomb disposal experts were called to examine the vehicle - a 308 Peugeot black-coloured car which was flagged as stolen and had fake number plates. Witnesses say the car was driven just 50m from the polling station at a local school, where two occupants got out and ran away - leaving the engine to run.

TWITTER Armed guards are on patrol outside the polling station

TWITTER The suspicious car was flagged as stolen and had fake number plates

Police rushed to the scene to examine the vehicle, where they found a gun - believed to be a shotgun - left in the car. Photos from the town show armed guards on patrol outside the centre in Besançon, eastern France. Mayor of Besançon Jean-Louis Fousseret said: ”The situation is completely re-established, the polling stations are reopened, we can vote in complete safety.” According to him, "the car arrived at very low speed, with two people on board, before stopping in a hedge of privet, then the two people fled”. FRANCE GOES TO THE POLLS AS LE PEN AND MACRON NECK AND NECK

Live images: Terror at French election Tue, April 18, 2017 Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 8 Members of the French RAID police unit leave after searching the home of one of two men arrested in Marseille on April 18, 2017 after they were suspected of plotting an

Officials stressed the incident was "not a terrorist act at all, it is a matter of common law", according to Doubs Regional Director of Public Security (DDSP), Benoît Desferet. The two polling stations, whch were closed for jsut over an hour, have since been reopened to the public. Bomb squads claim the scene has now been made safe. France's citizens are currently voting in the first round of a presidential election today amid heightened security.

REUTERS Almost 47 million voters could cast their ballots today