German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the latest politician to criticise a major food bank’s decision to bar foreigners from receiving free food.

The charity Essener Tafel called it a temporary restriction necessary because the share of foreigners using the food bank had soared to 75% in recent years.

The charity says it helps about 16,000 poor people in Essen, a city in the western industrial Ruhr region.

Vandals have sprayed “Nazis” on the charity’s delivery vans.

Mrs Merkel spoke out against Essener Tafel’s new rule requiring visitors to show a German passport in order to receive food.