The 20-year-old man, who has not been named, is believed to have escaped from the Corbas prison near Lyon by hiding in a laundry bag belonging to a cellmate who had just finished his sentence.

He was found to be missing on Saturday morning and was finally arrested early this morning, CNN reports.

French prisons boss Sébastien Cauwel said: “This is an extremely rare event that we have never seen in this administration and which clearly shows a whole series of serious failures.”

The man is now facing additional charges of escape as part of an organised gang and participation in a criminal conspiracy.

His accomplice has yet to be arrested.