Police officers stand outside the Qwartz mall in Villeneuve-La-Garenne after a robbery attempt on July 13, 2015.[Photo/CFP]

PARIS - French police evacuated 18 people from a clothes store in a shopping precinct just outside Paris that was held up by robbers on Monday, police sources said.

French media earlier reported that armed robbers were holding the people hostage at the store.

Selon, a police source cited by le Figaro, said two or three gunmen entered the Primark shop around 6:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) for an attempted armed robbery.

An employee of the shop "sent a text message around 7:00 a.m. local time to her boyfriend saying that they were held hostage by two gunmen," reported le Figaro, citing another police source.

The shopping center is closed for now and the traffic in the area is under control.

The police could not confirm whether the robbers were armed or whether the people had been held hostage, although there was no indication it was a terrorist act. It was not immediately clear where the robbers were.

The incident took place in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, in the Hauts-de-Seine region to the northwest of the French capital.