Istanbul: A female suicide bomber has blown herself up in the most-visited tourist district of Istanbul, killing herself and a Turkish policeman, officials say.

The woman went into the police station in the Sultanahmet district and told the police in English she had lost her wallet before setting off her explosives, governor Vasip Sahin said on Turkish television.

One policeman was badly wounded and died of his wounds in hospital, the official Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.

A second policeman was lightly wounded. Both were staffing a tourist police post intended to assist tourists with questions and problems.