The French government has refused to grant citizenship to a man who forced his wife to wear the full Islamic veil.

The Muslim man had to acquire citizenship to be able to join his French wife.

But the French parliament has proposed a partial ban on full veils and has ordered that practitioners of radical religious practices should be carefully screened for citizenship.

The French Immigration Department has said the certificate of citizenship was refused when it emerged the man had ordered his wife to cover herself with a head-to-toe veil.

The department has stressed that French law requires anyone seeking naturalisation to demonstrate their desire for integration.