Abenhaim, general director for health, told Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei in a letter that he was tendering his resignation "given the present controversies surrounding the handling of the epidemic (of deaths) linked to the heatwave."

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, said Abenhaim, 52, would continue in his job until a successor was found.

Abenhaim's office had been criticised for failing to notify the government about the unfurling wave of deaths from the heatwave that gripped almost all of France for the first half of August.

Mattei on Monday said it was "plausible" that the toll could be as high as 5,000, many of them elderly people.

Abenhaim is a highly respected doctor and academic. He is on leave of absence as a professor of epidemiology at Montreal's McGill University.

TERRA.WIRE