A former aide to the French far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, has made new allegations about fraudulent party financing, BBC reports.

Gael Nofri said that in 2012 the National Front (FN) had recruited him into Ms Le Pen's presidential campaign team, using a fictitious European Parliament (EP) contract.

It was apparently a way for the FN to avoid declaring campaign spending.

The FN is already under investigation for alleged misuse of EP funds.

Polls suggest that Ms Le Pen is on course to win the first round of the presidential election in April, but centrist Emmanuel Macron is gaining ground and looks likely to beat her in the May runoff vote.

A Figaro/LCI poll on Sunday put Mr Macron on 58% in the runoff, against 42% for Ms Le Pen.