Terror plot fears after gas cylinders found in car parked near Notre Dame cathedral in Paris

Police arrest man and woman ‘known to security services’

The country has been in a continuing state of emergency that started after Isis’ Paris attacks in November (AFP/Getty)

An abandoned car containing gas cylinders has been found near Notre Dame cathedral, sparking an investigation into a possible new terror plot in Paris.

Police arrested two men after making the discovery on Saturday night, with officials saying the car had no registration plates.

Officers found six gas cylinders and well as a book with Arabic writing, according to local reports.

“The car had no one in it, as if it were abandoned,” a source told Le Figaro newspaper, adding that the cylinders “were not connected to any kind of detonator”.

Gas cylinders can be used in attempts to make car bombs, such as those discovered and disabled in London in 2007.

The vehicle was cordoned off in Rue du Petit-Pont early on Sunday morning, in Paris’ fifth arrondissement.

Counter-terror police have opened an investigation and have arrested two suspects, a 34-year-old man and 29-year-old woman believed to be a couple.

BFMTV reported that they were “known to security services” but it was unclear whether the couple were on France’s “Fiche S” list of terror suspects.

The country remains under a continuing state of emergency that started after Isis’ Paris attacks in November, and has been extended in the wake of a series of other massacres.

Supporters of the so-called Islamic State were also behind the Nice attack, that killed more than 80 people, murder of a Catholic priest and attacks on police.