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Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from the Eiffel Tower tonight - as armed police and soldiers searched tourists in central Paris.

The whole area around the popular tourist attraction was cordoned off and the popular tourist hotspot placed on lockdown.

At 9pm tonight the situation was declared a "false alarm" and the vicinity began to return to normal.

Initially there was confusion and the reason for the evacuation was not immediately clear - with unconfirmed reports of a "suspicious package" having been found.

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French outlet BFMTV reported that security services spotted an abandoned piece of luggage.

Eyewitnesses described a large police presence at the scene - with many cops spotted carrying assault rifles.

Visitors were warned away from the site of France's most popular landmark - with Twitter users reporting the military had been deployed "all over" the place.

Police allowed people into the ground floor restaurant - but nobody else was allowed to venture any further - according to one report.

People were reported to be acting calmly - with "no state of panic" - and responding well to the show of force.

The French nation is on a knife-edge after suffering a number of Islamic State terrorist attacks in the last 18 months - including the attacks in Paris last November, the attack in Nice last month and the murder of a French priest in Normandy last week.

According to BMFTV the evacuation was undertaken as a precautionary measure in the wake of these attacks.