The chief rabbi of France has resigned following the revelation that he plagiarised part of his latest book, according to a report by Le Figaro.

Rabbi Gilles Bernheim also admitted that he had not been truthful about his academic credentials, having never taken the final exam in his philosophy degree.

The rabbi shocked French congregants when it emerged that his 2011 book "40 Jewish Meditations" was not all his own work, although he blamed an assistant for lifting passages from other writers without his knowledge. However he is also facing allegations of plagiarism in other works.

Rabbi Bernheim became France's most senior rabbi in 2008, and was appointed with the expectation that he would serve a seven - year term.