Armed police evacuate Nimes railway station in France after claims of roaming armed men

Nimes railway station has been evacuated. File photo / Getty Images

By Harvey Day

Armed police have evacuated Nimes railway station in France after reports of 'suspicious behaviour.'

Initial reports said three armed men got off a train from Paris at Nimes station, where they opened fire.

However, police later suggested the station was evacuated so they could check reports of 'suspicious behaviour', the Daily Mail reported.

Video and images from the scene showed crowds of stranded passengers standing outside the station.

A transport police spokesman said earlier this evening: "Avoid the area around the station of Nimes."

Later they updated: "End of the lifting of doubt: imminent return to normal at the station of Nimes."

The false alarm comes at a time of heightened tensions after terror attacks across Europe.

On Thursday, Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas walkway become the scene of carnage after a van rampage killed 14 and wounded more than 100.

Police closed down the city center, after the van zigzagged down the packed Ramblas before the driver escaped.

On Friday, a Moroccan man was arrested for killing two women in a knife rampage in the city of Turku in Finland.

Eight other people - six of them women - were wounded and police shot the suspect in the leg before his arrest.