Police shoot dead stolen car driver in France's Nice: source

French police in the Mediterranean port of Nice on Wednesday shot dead the driver of a stolen vehicle after the individual refused to obey an order to stop, a police source said.

An officer used a service weapon to fire a single shot at the driver, the source, who asked not to be named, told AFP, confirming a report by BFMTV.

The passenger of the vehicle was detained.

The incident comes after a woman aged 22 was killed and a man, 26, was wounded when police fired while making an arrest during an anti-drugs operation in the western city of Rennes.

While the government strongly defends the conduct of French police in the context of an anti-terror alert following a spate of attacks since 2015, there have on occasions been questions over their readiness to shoot.

Police officers in August shot and killed a homeless man who brandished a knife at the Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris.

And in July, a French policeman was charged with involuntary manslaughter after shooting dead a driver who sought to evade police in an incident on a bridge in central Paris.

That decision by judges to press charges was slammed as "unacceptable" by the right-leaning Alliance police officers' union, emphasising the rights of officers to "legitimate defence".