Eiffel Tower EVACUATED: Iconic landmark locked down just hours before Olympic closing ceremony

The Eiffel Tower has been evacuated with just hours to go until the Olympics’ closing ceremony after a man was spotted climbing the 330-metre-tall landmark.

Footage emerged on social media on Sunday afternoon of an apparently shirtless man wearing black shorts scaling the side of the 19th-Century tower, just next to its Olympic Rings display.

Entry beneath the Eiffel Tower is understood to have been closed, while tourists enjoying the Paris icon have been escorted down and out for their own safety.

In the social media videos of the climber, he can be seen ascending the tower between its lowest and middle viewing decks.

It is not yet clear whether he began the climb from ground-level, or from higher up inside.

More images from the ground beneath the landmark show entry gates – which, on a sunny summer Sunday at the culmination of the Olympic Games, would have been packed – empty, save for a few guards.

French police, kitted out with ropes, helmets and climbing gear, have been seen assembling underneath the Eiffel Tower.

Security forces have been on high alert throughout the Games, not least after their opening day when a “far-left or Russian” arson attack“ on France’s rail networks paralysed travel across the country.

And armed police were seen lining the streets of the French capital before the event’s much-anticipated closing ceremony, slated to begin at 8pm UK time on Sunday evening.

More to follow…