Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has announced that she is stepping aside as leader of her National Front (FN) party, BBC reports. 

The move comes just a day after she reached the second round of the French election, where she will face centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Ms Le Pen told French TV she needed to be above partisan considerations.

Opinion polls suggest Mr Macron is firm favourite for the second round but Ms Le Pen said: "We can win, we will win."

The French term she used signalled that the move to step aside would be temporary.

She told France 2 that France was approaching a "decisive moment".