The 67-year-old woman was shot ‘above the heart’ and could not be saved (Stock picture: Getty)

A British woman has died after being shot while on a wild boar hunt in northern France.

The hunting party were crossing a corn field in Goudelin, Brittany when the 67-year-old woman was wounded ‘above the heart’.

It was reportedly fired by a 69-year-old man whose rifle was mounted on his shoulder with the ‘barrel pointing towards the back’.

She was rushed to hospital in Saint-Brieuc but could not be saved and died just after midday on Sunday, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said.

French police launched a manslaughter investigation and took the man into custody for questioning.

‘The hunters were advancing through a field of corn silage when one of them, a 69-year-old man, in circumstances yet to be determined, fired with his shoulder-mounted rifle, barrel pointing towards the back,’ prosecutors said.

‘The shot reached his companion … and whose bullet caused a penetrating wound above the heart.’

A manslaughter investigation has been launched by French police (Stock picture: Getty/fStop)

Mr Heitz said the exact circumstances of the shooting are still unclear, but initial tests found the shooter was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Earlier this year, a hiker was accidentally killed by a teenage girl who was also hunting wild boar.

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The stray bullet killed the 25-year-old woman instantly as she walked with a friend along a marked trail near Aurillac in southern France.

Her death sparked calls for stricter hunting regulations. The 17-year-old shooter had received her hunting licence when she was 16. 

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A manslaughter investigation has been launched by French police.