An injured prison guard was being held hostage by an inmate at a high-security jail in France on Tuesday, French broadcaster BFMTV reported.

Two prison guards, a man and a woman, were initially taken hostage, the justice ministry said, but according to BFMTV the female guard was freed after several hours.

The male guard, who is still being held hostage, sustained an injury to his right eye, the broadcaster said.

The ministry said negotiations were underway to try to secure the release of the hostage at the jail in Conde-sur-Sarthe, about 250 km (155 miles) west of Paris.

Security units at the jail had been mobilized, and extra forces had been despatched to the prison, the ministry added.

BFMTV reported that the suspected hostage-taker was serving a long sentence for rape and attempted murder, revising a previous report that he had been convicted of murder.

The TV channel said the prisoner, who was armed with a knife, had made a number of demands, including a reduction in his sentence. It said he was not on a list of inmates who have radical Islamist sympathies.