[WATCH] French reporter thrown out as he questions Le Pen on European parliament funds

Security guards have forcibly removed a French journalist after he tried to ask a question to far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.

Paul Larrouturou was with a crew from the TF1 news programme Quotidien at the conference in Paris, when he attempted to ask Le Pen about allegations that she used European parliament funds to pay staff of her political party.

It was not clear what had happened beforehand in a room at a convention centre.

Two security guards can be seen on film pushing him out of the door as he holds his microphone to Le Pen.

"Let me go," Larrouturou can be heard saying repeatedly. “I am accredited here; you cannot stop me asking Madame Le Pen a question.” One of the guards replies: “You have threatened a police officer.”

Larrouturou walks back into the conference centre and shows the security agent his press badge, before repeating: “I am accredited - you cannot prevent me from asking a question to Ms Le Pen. So you are going to let me go and immediately say you are sorry for the violence.” 

But the agents repeat the claim that he “assaulted a police officer” and push him out of the door again. 

“Do you know anything about the liberty of the press?,” Larrouturou is heard asking.

One of the agents then realised the cameraman was filming and hits it.

“Who do you think you are? I’m going to take your camera - you fool,” he said, hitting the front of the camera. 

According to Front National, it was not responsible for the reporter's ejection from the business forum she was visiting.

"It is the convention centre's security services who took care of that," Senior National Front official David Rachline tweeted on Wednesday.

Le service d'ordre de MLP n'a aucune responsabilité dans l'évacuation du @Qofficiel, c'est le SO du Palais des Congrès qui s'en est chargé.

— David Rachline (@david_rachline) February 1, 2017

This was denied by the Palais des Congres convention centre, which said on Twitter its security service did not work in that area.

According to Reuters news agency, Larrouturou said the security guards were from a private company employed by the Salon des Entrepreneurs business show group that was holding the convention. He said they had expelled him on the orders of a National Front official who was standing nearby.

Le Pen is among the frontrunners in a closely contested election, although opinion polls show her losing by a big margin in a second-round runoff on 7 May to whichever other candidate she might face there.

The European parliament has ordered Le Pen to refund the €300,000 claimed for the salaries of parliamentary staff after allegations that the money was used to pay a personal bodyguard and a member of her political team in Paris.

Le Pen has refused to reimburse the money. She now faces having her MEP’s monthly salary halved and her expenses stopped.