France demanded free tickets to the British Museum for its citizens in exchange for the Bayeux Tapestry loan, negotiation insiders have claimed.

Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries, Sir Chris Bryant, held talks in May with French culture minister, Rachida Dati.

Ms Dati told the minister that although France was willing to loan the over 950-year-old tapestry, it wanted British-held treasures and perks to go the other way in return.

Ms Dati told the minister that although France was willing to loan the over 950-year-old tapestry, it wanted British-held treasures and perks to go the other way

A British official told the Financial Times that France had lobbied for its citizens to be given free admission to the British Museum to view the exhibit.

However, the official said: "That was never going to happen... It was a try-on."

It was also revealed that Paris asked for a host of treasures from Britain's most famous museum to go the other way in exchange.

The British official said: "It felt a bit like they were googling all the most famous things in the British Museum.

"They were originally thinking of the Rosetta Stone - that was complicated by the fact that the French found it and we took it off them."

A British official said that the French wanted the Rosetta Stone as part of the negotiations

The Rosetta Stone is a 2,100 year-old artifact from Ancient Egypt and is one of the most popular items in the British Museum's collection.

Chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne, agreed to hand over treasures from the Anglo-Saxon ship burial found at Sutton Hoo and the Lewis Chessman as part of the deal.

Paris allegedly wanted Britain to foot the entire bill for both the tapestry's move to London and the shipping of British-held artifacts to Normandy, but this was a "non-starter" a British official close to the talks said.

The loan deal was announced last month during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the UK.

It comes after the Bayeux Museum in Normandy, which has housed the tapestry documenting the 1066 Norman Conquest, is set to close its doors for two years from September due to renovations.

The idea for a deal to see the Bayeux Tapestry temporarily return to Britain was first raised by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018.

During the deal's announcement at Windsor Castle last month, Mr Macron joked that the temporary exchange "took more years to deliver than Brexit texts".

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the deal as "a symbol of our shared history with our friends in France, a relationship built over centuries and one that continues to endure".

Mr Osborne said: "There is no other single item in British history that is so familiar, so studied in schools, so copied in art as the Bayeux Tapestry."

A spokesman for the British Museum said: “As our chairman George Osborne has said, this will be the blockbuster show of our generation.

"This is an object of such historical significance for the UK that we want as many people as possible to have the chance to see it.”

The Bayeux Tapestry is set to arrive on British soil next year.