The device was discovered by Lafarge staff as they turned up for work this morning (Picture: Getty)

What appears to be a large petrol bomb has been discovered underneath a lorry in Paris.

French media is reporting that six bottles of petrol were discovered under the Franco-Swiss cement company Lafarge truck and they were connected to an ignition device.

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It was described as a ‘crude detonator device’ and was discovered in the 19th arrondissement – to the north west of the city, according to Le Figaro.

It was discovered early this morning by workers as they arrived for work. Sources say that they had tried to ignite it with a barbecue lighter, but it failed.

Police and prosecutors are at the scene, according to a source close to the investigation.

Bomb disposal experts rushed to the site and police cordoned off the area, situated in a working-class district.

The incident comes as anti-terrorism police investigate the discovery of several gas canisters and a cell phone detonator in western Paris on Saturday, but a source said there was no apparent link between the two.

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Six people are in custody over the canisters placed in the hallway of a building in the wealthy 16th district, including two who were on watchlists for Islamic extremism.

In September last year, five full gas canisters were found in a car near the Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris.

Several women, who had received instructions from the Islamic State (IS) group to carry out an attack, were arrested.

France has suffered a series of jihadist attacks since 2015 which have left 241 people dead.

Cement giant Lafarge is under investigation over claims that it indirectly funded IS and other armed groups in Syria in order to keep a plant running in a war zone.

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Earlier this year, the company admitted it had resorted to ‘unacceptable practices’ to continue operations at a now-closed cement factory in northern Syria in 2013-14, after most French groups had quit the war-torn country.