Bulletproof anti-terror defence for Eiffel Tower

Barriers are being replaced. Photo / AP

Paris will next month unveil new perimeter defences around the Eiffel Tower to protect against terror threats.

Temporary barriers were placed around the tower in June 2016 and are being replaced with more permanent measures costing nearly €35 million ($58.5m).

More than 240 people have died in terror attacks in France since 2015.

Bernard Gaudillère, president of the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel which runs the monument, said the new walls were "rock-solid for absolute security".

Bulletproof glass walls measuring 6.5cm thick will form two sides of the square, with the other two blocked off by 3.24m high metal barriers, one-hundredth the height of the tower.

To prevent vehicle attacks, 420 blocks will be placed in front of the glass walls.

The forecourt under the tower has been closed to the public since June 2016, with anti-terror troops regularly patrolling.

Gaudillère said the temporary walls would be replaced with something "infinitely nicer and more romantic", as part of a €300m renovation of the tower ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Up to seven million tourists are expected to visit the tower this year.

A group called Les Amis du Champ de Mars posted a statement online in May last year complaining about the lack of consultation with residents, the "exorbitant cost" of the fences, the difficulty of access for buses and people with disabilities, and using the state of emergency to push through the security changes.

The country introduced tough anti-terror laws in October 2017 after almost two years of the national state of emergency imposed by then-President Francois Hollande in the wake of the Paris attacks.