Police fire at car in Paris square ahead of race

Thousands of spectators are expected in the square later

Police in France are searching for the driver of a vehicle that tried to crash through a barricade for the Tour de France which ends in Paris later.

The incident on the Champs-Elysees took place at about 08:00 local time as the security barriers were beginning to go up.

Officers opened fire on the car to try to stop it but it drove away.

BBC Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield reports there is no suggestion of terrorism as a motive.

He says the car first hit a parked vehicle in the Place de la Concorde.

Trying to speed away, the driver tried to pass through a police cordon that was being put in place ahead of the final stage of the tour.

There was no exchange of fire and our correspondent suggests it could have been a reveller driving home from a night out.

Tour de France race director Thierry Gouvenou told AP he did not foresee any impact on the race.