Sarkozy’s aides refused to confirm or deny the report on the website of Paris Match magazine when contacted by AFP, but said that it was the police and not the politician himself who decided on his level of security.

State accounts show that the average cost of deploying a police officer to protect a top politician is €72,000 a year.

The current president and government ministers benefit from permanent police protection, as do all former heads of state, prime ministers and interior ministers.

All other ministers get six months of police protection when they leave office.