Investigators are carrying out a search in the lower house of the French parliament in connection with a probe into claims that presidential candidate Francois Fillon paid his wife half a million euros to "do nothing" in a fictitious job role.

The raid was not carried out in Mr Fillon's office, according to a Reuters reporter who was at the scene.

It comes after Mr Fillon and his British wife Penelope were questioned separately on Monday over allegations she was paid €500,000 (£426,000) for a job as his parliamentary assistant while in fact steering clear of his political activities.

The couple, who appeared on Sunday at a mass Paris rally to kick start his faltering presidential campaign, were questioned by financial fraud officers in Nanterre, west of Paris.

The national financial prosecutor launched a preliminary inquiry into misappropriation of public funds, misuse of funds and concealment last week after satirical weekly Le Canard broke the story.

Welsh-born Mrs Fillon also faces allegations that she was unfairly paid €100,000 by a magazine called La Revue des Deux Mondes, owned by a close friend of Mr Fillon's, for writing two short articles.