An Orthodox priest has been wounded in a shooting in the French city of Lyon.

The Telegraph reports that the priest was critically injured in the attack, which occurred as he was closing his church. 

A police source told AFP news agency that the gunman used a sawn-off shotgun and had fled the scene. 

Another police official told Reuters news agency that the priest had received treatment at the scene for "life-threatening injuries". 

Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London, said the attack was "sad and concerning". 

"Our condolences and prayers are with our sisters and brothers in the Greek Orthodox community in Britain and France," he said. 

It comes just days after a terror attack on a church in the southern French city of Nice in which three people were killed, including a 60-year-old woman who was beheaded as she prayed. 

Eyewitnesses said the suspect in the Nice attack, Brahim Aoussaoui, 21, had arrived in France from Tunisia just last month. 

Responding to the Nice attack, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to escalate security at churches.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said he was "horrified" by the attack, especially as it had taken place in a place of worship.

"People have been killed in a sacred place, which they had entered in order to pray. I know the Basilica well. It is much loved by the people of Nice and by so many visitors," he said.

"Its violation deepens the horror of three brutal killings. May these three innocent people rest in peace. May all people reject utterly the pathway of senseless violence. May God bless Nice."