Jacques Chirac, the former French president, was questioned for four hours today by a judge investigating a "fake jobs" scam during his long reign as mayor of Paris.

The unprecedented grilling of the former head of state is part of an investigation into allegations that members of Mr Chirac's Rally for the Republic (RPR) party had their salaries paid by City Hall, or by companies that won contracts there.

Mr Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, after which he became president and started to enjoy presidential immunity.

Mr Chirac’s close ally, the former prime minister Alain Juppe, was convicted over the same affair in 2004, earning a one-year ban from politics, but investigators had to wait until June 16, when that immunity expired a month after Mr Chirac left the Elysee Palace.

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The 74-year-old was today interviewed by Judge Alain Phililbeaux as an "assisted" or material witness, rather than as an ordinary witness, which means that the possibility of criminal charges against him remains open, judicial sources said.

The interview took place at Mr Chirac’s office on the rue de Lille in the Left Bank area, which was quickly packed by TV crews and reporters.

In a signed commentary published in today's Le Monde, Mr Chirac said that his decision to answer the judge’s questions was "perfectly normal and in keeping with the conception I have always had of the principles of the Republic".

"I am ready to testify and to respond. Testifying before (public) opinion, responding to the judges. In both cases, I will do it in good faith," he wrote.

Mr Chirac’s lawyer, Jean Veil, said that today's interview had been conducted calmly and did not expect Chirac to be questioned again. "I think the explanations the former president gave to the judge were absolutely complete, clear, explaining his role, his knowledge of the facts and should satisfy the judges in charge of the case," he told reporters.

Last month, Mr Veil said that his client would "answer all questions in all the cases that may concern him" in investigations relating to events before he took over as president. Mr Veil was given a judicial dossier amounting to 30,000 pages to help him prepare for today's interview.

However, Mr Chirac continues to claim presidential immunity in the so-called Clearstream scandal, which took place when he was president.

The Clearstream investigation is into allegations that Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Chirac's successor, was the victim of a smear campaign in 2004 aimed at derailing his bid for the presidency

Dominique de Villepin, Mr Chirac's last prime minister, is to be interviewed next week over the case and press reports suggest that he might be officially placed under judicial investigation - a first step towards charges - for libel.

Mr Chirac also faces a police investigation into the existence of a Japanese back account set up in his name in the early 1990s with as much as £30 million in it - money that investigators think could be linked to French nuclear testing in the Pacific.

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