Police in Brussels have detained a Slovakian man outside the European Parliament and found a gun and chainsaw in his car.

They spotted the man earlier in the day acting suspiciously and questioned him.

The Slovakian, who was wearing camouflage gear, told police he wanted to meet the European president, according to Belgian prosecutors.

Officers then sealed off an area around the man's car parked nearby until they could establish that it contained no explosives.

A robot was used to examine the vehicle.

When they managed to confirm the vehicle was safe and get inside, they found a chainsaw and a gun.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from offices while the security alert was under way.

Parliament spokesman Jaume Duch Guillot said that "police evacuated three of the parliament's buildings" containing about 500 people.

Two of the three buildings, used only for administrative purposes, have since been declared safe.

Belgium has been on high alert since the attacks in Paris between 7 and 9 January and a series of police raids on suspected foreign fighters in Belgium and France last month.