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French Court Overturns Controversial Burkini Ban

France's highest administrative court has suspended a town's controversial ban on full-body burkini swimsuits.

The ruling by the Council of State specifically concerns a ban in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet.

The binding decision is expected to set a legal precedent for the 30 or so areas that have also imposed bans.

But the mayors of several resort towns and cities, including Nice, insist they will maintain the ban in defiance of the court.

The bans grew increasingly controversial as images emerged of some Muslim women being ordered to remove body-concealing garments on beaches.

Lawyers for two human rights groups and a Muslim collective challenged the legality of the policy, saying it infringes basic freedoms and that mayors have overstepped their powers by telling women what to wear.

Mayors cited concerns about public order after deadly terror attacks this summer, and some officials have argued the garment oppresses women.

The Council of State ruled that: "The emotion and concerns arising from the terrorist attacks, notably the one perpetrated in Nice on 14 July, cannot suffice to justify in law the contested prohibition measure."

The court said the mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet overstepped his powers by enacting measures that are not justified by "proven risks of disruptions to public order nor, moreover, on reasons of hygiene or decency".

"The contested decree has thus brought a serious and manifestly illegal infringement on basic freedoms such as freedom to come and go, freedom of conscience and personal freedom," the ruling reads.

Lawyer Patrice Spinosi, representing the Human Rights League, said mayors in other towns should take heed of the decision and drop their bans.

But the mayor of Sisco, in northern Corsica, Ange-Pierre Vivoni told BFM-TV: "Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won't withdraw it."

Earlier this week, a mother of two told Sky News she was horrified when French police ordered her to remove her headscarf while she was on the beach.

The woman, who gave her name as Siam, had gone to the beach in Cannes, and said she was given a verbal warning when she refused to remove the headscarf.