Police have arrested a suspicious man waving an object that looked like a sausage at an Easter Mass in France.

The incident happened in a church in Nice not far from the promenade where a truck attack last year killed 86 people.

Police and soldiers converged around the Saint-Pierre d'Arene church and tried to calmly overpower the intruder.

The camouflage-dressed man in the back of the packed church put on ski gloves and spoke threateningly, according to local media.

He reportedly waved an object that looked like a sausage, but it was unclear if he was armed.

Regional president Eric Ciotti later tweeted "no worries" from the church.

In July, a Tunisian man living in France drove a cargo truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 and wounding hundreds.