France's Eiffel Tower has reopened to the public after a closure of five consecutive days due to a workers' strike.

The Eiffel Tower closed to the public for most of the day yesterday as staff protested over a rise in aggressive pickpockets around the Paris landmark.

A Paris court today sentenced 15 former Eiffel Tower ticket sellers to pay a total of about €697,000 in damages and fines for embezzling about €1m from the ticket office.

A SMALL fire near the top of the Eiffel Tower was extinguished shortly after erupting yesterday, Paris police said. The fire caused panic among tourists but no injuries.