Paris attack: Man 'wearing fake explosives belt shouted Allah Akbar' before being shot dead outside police station

A man reportedly shouting “Allah Akbar “ and wearing a fake explosives belt has been shot dead outside a police station in Paris - a year after the jihadist massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine.

The man attacked and slighty injured a policeman outside the station in the Goutte d’Or district in northern Paris.

A police source said his colleagues had opened fire when the attacker appeared to put his hand to his jacket.

A wire protruded from the jacket and was connected to a package taped to the inner lining.

“Upon examination, it was found that the package contained no explosives,” the source said.

Police rubbished a report, circulated by the Twitter feed of a bogus journalist, that the attacker was Salah Abdeslam, the missing survivor of the jihadist death squad which attacked Paris on 13 November.

The body of a bald man, wearing blue jeans and a grey flak jacket, lay on the pavment outside the police station for more than an hour after the shooting.

A small robot camera on wheels was sent out from the station to examine the body and the apparent explosives belt. Experts finally arrived and decided that it was fake.

The street, in the 18th arrondissement not far from the Gare du Nord, was cordoned off while the belt was inspected.

Paris was on high alert for a possible terrorist attack today - a year after the Kouachi brothers attacked Charlie Hebdo magazine murdering 12 people.

Minutes before the attack at around noon, French President Francois Hollande had paid homage to police officers killed in the line of duty, including three police shot to death last January.

Police said the neighborhood in northern Paris, which has a large immigrant population, was locked down after the shooting.