Louvre staff strike over stress of looking after masterpieces

Staff at Paris's Louvre museum have gone on strike, demanding a bonus for the stress of looking after the Mona Lisa and other popular masterpieces.

Access to the museum was made free for visitors after strikers blocked access to ticket desks, reports say.

The Musee d'Orsay was also shut after attendants there stopped work.

Attendants are demanding a bonus they say other categories of staff have been offered, and because they suffer more stress being on the floor.

"The stress is clearly linked to the number of visitors", one Louvre attendant, who did not want to be named, told the AFP news agency.