Chilling video of a driver being shot dead by police after he refused to get out of his car has emerged in France.

The film shows officers pointing guns at the unnamed suspect, who was allegedly brandishing a knife, as he sat at the wheel of a Renault Scenic on Saturday afternoon.

They initially shout ‘Get out of the car!’ and then smash its windows with their truncheons, as he accelerates forward into the apartment block where he lived with his mother.

At the start of the video, the vehicle is completely blocked in but then one officer moves a squad car, allowing the driver to get away.

It is then that three of the six officers involved start shooting repeatedly into the rear windscreen of the Renault.

The man, who was being treated for psychiatric problems, managed to then drive up a grassy bank, but died from his wounds soon afterwards.

The drama unfolded on the Kennedy housing estate in Chalette-sur-Loing, close to Orleans, and some 70 miles south of Paris, on Saturday afternoon.

Police have shot dead a man in France after the suspect allegedly brandished a knife at them

Officers smashed through the window before three of them shot the suspect and killed him

At around 5.30pm, beat officers visited the man’s flat after neighbours complained of loud noise.

They found the man, who was of Portuguese origin, in his car, from where he ‘claimed to have a knife and explosives,’ said a source close to the case.

‘He was known to have a criminal record, and suffered from psychiatric problems. There are claims that he was a convicted murderer, and threatening to let off bombs.’

Despite such claims, investigators have already ruled out any links to terrorism.

The video shot by neighbours and posted on You Tube shows six officers in bulletproof vests surrounding the Renault.

The man allegedly told officers that he had a knife and explosives in the vehicle

The suspect, who was being treated for psychiatric problems, was shot outside his mother's house

Prosecutors have now launched an enquiry, with officers from the General Inspectorate of the National Police also involved.

The armed officers who shot the man will be placed under formal investigation, and may face charges if they are deemed to have used unnecessary force.

The police shot the suspect who is reported to have made bomb threats while brandishing a knife

The incident in which police shot dead a man in France is not thought to be terror-related

Police brutality in France came under the spotlight in February after an officer was charged with the rape of a 22-year-old man during a violent arrest on an estate in a Paris suburb.

The accused policeman was said to have forced his baton up the suspect’s rectum, causing him severe internal wounds.

France remains under a State of Emergency following a series of terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic State operatives, including ones using cars and knives.