France's highest administrative court has suspended a ban on full-body burkini swimsuits that has outraged Muslims and opened divisions within the government.

The Conseil d'Etat gave the ruling overnight following a request from the League of Human Rights to overturn the burkini ban in the Mediterranean town of Villeneuve-Loubet on the grounds it contravenes civil liberties.

The court says the ban "seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom".