A French court on Monday sentenced five female militants to between five and 30 years in prison for planning a failed car bomb plot outside Notre Dame Cathedral in 2016.

The local media reported on Tuesday.

The two main defendants, Ines Madani and Ornella Gilligmann were sentenced to 30 years and 25 years respectively.

The sentence according to state-run France Info radio, followed their attempt to set off a car loaded with gas cylinders and cans of diesel outside the cathedral.

Two other women, who had coordinated with Madani and Gilligmann were given 20 years in jail.

The fifth one named Samia Chalel was sent to prison for five years for allegedly helping hide Madani.

The five women, aged between 22 and 42, were guided by Rachid Kassim, a French Islamic State militant who had called on radicalised nationals to conduct terrorist assaults on French soil.

He was believed to have been killed in an air strike near the Iraqi city of Mosul in February 2017. (NAN)