Poll shows majority of French voters believe Fillon wrong to stick to presidential bid

A large majority of French voters think conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon is wrong to maintain his bid after allegations that he paid his wife for work she did not do, a poll showed on Friday.

The Odoxa poll for France Info radio showed 61 percent believe Fillon is wrong to persevere in his presidential bid.

Fillon, 62, denied wrongdoing after Le Canard Enchaine newspaper reported the former prime minister had paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros for work she may not have done.

Fillon on Thursday attempted to fight back as pressure mounted on him to quit the race with some lawmakers from his own side urging him to drop his scandal-tainted bid to save the conservatives from defeat.

The poll was carried out online on Wednesday and Thursday among 997 people.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)