Thanks for this Graham. This subject was discussed previously and I posted a couple of links that others may find useful that supports what you say and how to contact the pensions department in Newcastle. Here is that thread once again.
I recall being told by @JohnBoy that this was incorrect information.
However, this is definitely the correct way to currently claim your state pension if you live & work in France. After Brexit, who knows?! 
I suggest that the link that Mandy has referred to is read in full by anyone approaching retirement and then contact the authorities to check thier personal situation with them rather than taking the word of Mandy, me or anyone else. All have offered advice in good faith but it is the pension service of whichever country who have the final say. For what it is worth I claimed my French pension first which was only granted after they had recieved information from the UK to show how many years I had paid in there. When I recieved my French pension I was also given a calculation print out of how the pension had been arrived at.
When claiming my UK pension I applied via the international pension service and with all the info that was required I also sent the original printout from French authorities of which I kept a copy.
All certified documents were returned to me when uk had seen them but not the original documents from French authorities, which the uk have retained which presumably now rest there with my file.
After a few weeks I recieved confirmation from UK of my pension entitlement which I now receive every 4 weeks paid into a UK account so I can transfer my pension if and when I need it and at an exchange rate that suits me.
I have already explained all this in the thread that Mandy has referred to and it worked for me and I am certain that neither France or UK would pay me a pension to which I am not entitled.
Thank you John
Many thanks for this, this is exactly what I was looking for 
What a lot of paperwork though …
many thanks
Hugs
True perhaps for the state pension - but another thing altogether for ‘private’ contributory pension schemes (I have three - thank you Maggie) all small. One of them wants to charge me 10£ / month to pay it into a French bank account. 120£ / year for a small pension. Robbery by any other name.
those small pensions can surely be paid into a UK bank account. You simply include the annual amount in your French Worldwide Declaration along with all the other stuff…