Reports are circulating that the incident on the beach below the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, whereby a young woman in a burkini was asked to remove the offending article by Nice police officers, was, in fact, a “set-up”.

Taken at about 11 am on Tuesday, professional quality photos of the scene were bought from a freelance photographer by the French agency Best Images, which then sold them on to news outlets.

The UK’s Daily Mail published a series of the pictures on Wednesday in which four police officers are seen asking the woman to remove her outer layers of clothing, which she does. Meanwhile, a bare-breasted woman can be seen looking on. According to the Nice Town Hall, the burkini-clad woman was asked to show that she had a swimming costume underneath, which, according to a recently issued municipal edict, is the only correct beachwear.

It also appears that the woman is given a citation by one of the police officers. She left the beach soon afterwards.

Another controversy erupted in Cannes after an article in L’Obs published on Monday entitled “Siam, fined on a beach in Cannes wearing a simple veil” reported a woman was wearing a hijab on a beach in Cannes la Bocca when the municipal police asked her to leave or pay a fine.

David Lisnard, Mayor of Cannes, defended its agents to the weekly. “The bylaw stipulates that access to beaches and swimming is forbidden for any person not properly dressed, respectful of morality and secularism, compliance with hygiene and safety rules,” He added, “So the municipal police do their job. They felt that the this woman did not comply with the order. It does not designate a particular outfit but all those which are ostentatious.” (Source: Nice-Matin, L’Obs)