Paris may lift law prohibiting women from wearing trousers

The law that banned women from wearing trousers in Paris could finally be lifted more than two centuries after it was first enforced.

The rule, which was first introduced in late 1799 by the city's police chief, stipulated that any Parisienne wishing to "dress like a man" must seek special permission from the main police station.

A group of 10 French MPs has now submitted a draft bill to parliament to remove the law, which has survived repeated attempts to repeal it.

The latest attempt to remove the outdated rule was in 2003, when a right-wing member of Parliament from president Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party wrote to the minister in charge of gender equality.

"Disuse is sometimes more efficient than [state] intervention in adapting the law to changing mores," the Daily Telegraph quoted the minister as responding then.

Already, the rule has been contradicted by legislation that has made men and women equal in the eyes of the French constitution since 1946.

But MPs say the trouser ban is "obsolete" and should be "de-legislated".

The development comes in line with Sarkozy's recent announcement that parliament should be given a break in the second half of this year to look back over old French laws that need repealing.