A school in the northern French city of Lille was evacuated on Monday following a bomb alert, local police said, confirming earlier media reports.

The police department for the Hauts-de-France region added that a police operation remained underway in the area around the school, which had been cordoned off.

BFM TV Lille and regional newspaper La Voix du Nord had earlier reported that a bomb squad team and sniffer dogs were on the scene.