Police in central France have shot dead a man who attacked them with a knife and shouted "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is great!"), French media report.

They quote a source as saying the attacker injured three police officers at Joue-les-Tours police station near the city of Tours before he was shot.

The assailant was a Burundi-born French national who had a criminal record, the source close to an investigation said.

Anti-terrorism investigators were now working at the scene, the source added.

In 2012, French Islamist Mohammed Merah killed seven people in the city of Toulouse. He was eventually killed after a 32-hour siege at his flat in the city.