France is in an uproar over a television report about secret meals in luxury restaurants in breach of COVID-19 restrictions - and now the authorities have become involved.

The report by channel M6 shows, for one thing, a secret high-end restaurant in Paris open despite the coronavirus measures.

"I have eaten this week in two or three restaurants that are so-called illegal restaurants with a number of ministers," a man introduced as an organiser of a secret party says in the report.

The Paris prosecutor's office launched an investigation on Sunday.

"The aim of the investigation is to verify whether parties were organised in violation of health regulations and to determine who the organisers and participants may have been," it said.

Restaurants in France were closed at the end of October because of the pandemic.

"People who come here take off their masks," says an unrecognisable staff member.

"Once you are through the door here, there is no COVID."

The report also shows a party at a posh establishment where people don't wear masks and don't observe distancing rules.

The coronavirus situation in France is extremely tense, with new nationwide restrictions only coming into force at the weekend.

Under the hashtag #OnVeutLesNoms (We want the names), people have been expressing their outrage online about the scenes.

Interior Minister politician Marlene Schiappa said if ministers or parliamentary members violated the rules, they would have to be fined and punished.