PARIS (AFP) - French police shot and injured a robber who held up a bank just off the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Friday (Feb 16).

The foiled robbery took place at a BNP bank branch, 400 metres from the Arc de Triomphe monument, one of the city's biggest tourist attractions which commemorates the country's military victories and war dead.

A 24-year-old man burst into the bank on Avenue de la Grande Armee shortly after it opened. The alarm was raised and the police were waiting for the man when he came out brandishing a gun.

The officers fired at the man, injuring him in the leg and chest. He was taken to hospital.

The police said he was a known criminal, with a history of armed robbery.

Paris has been the scene of several spectacular robberies in recent years, mostly involving jewels.

US reality TV star Kim Kardashian was famously targeted in a diamond heist in the French capital in October 2016.

She was tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxury apartment while robbers made off with jewellery worth at least nine million euros (S$14.7 million).