Refugees should avoid using the same public buses as local school children, the mayor of a town in northern Italy has said.

Pierangelo Oliviero met with a local bus company and the owners of a hotel where a group of refugees are currently staying in the town of Calizzano, near Turin.

He argued local buses had 48 seats - not enough for schoolchildren and 40 local refugees to ride at the same time in the early morning. He suggested the refugees staying at Hotel Lux seek to use a different mode of transport, to combat overcrowding.

“It’s simply a matter of common sense,” Mr Oliviero told local paper Il Vostro Giornale. “I haven’t posted any ban or order, and I haven’t even thought of doing so.

“There is no action, no ban, only a request. I want to find a solution to a problem reported by the community that the mayor must take responsibility for.

"The integration projects implemented by the municipality are some of the most significant opportunities for interaction designed to facilitate the integration with the local community."

The mayor pointed to the involvement of migrants in local volunteering projects around Calizzano and their participation in sports events as examples of their integration.

It’s simply a matter of common sense <p>Pierangelo Oliviero, mayor of Calizzano</p>

Rafaella Paita, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, likened Mr Oliveiro’s decision to “apartheid” and described the move as “shameful”.

“Problems are not solved by discriminating against people,” she said.

In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Refugees sleep on the deck of MV Aquarius Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship An overcrowded rubber vote before a rescue by the MV Aquarius Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Young boy being rescued from a rubber boat by the MV Aquarius Isabelle Serro/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The rescue of a wooden boat with more than 400 peopl on board by the MV Aquarius on 21 August Isabelle Serro/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Women rescued on MV Aquarius approaching Italy in the early morning Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Crew on the MV Aquarius search for a missing boat Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Rescue on the 21st August of a wooden boat carrying more than 400 people and a rubber boat with 120 people crammed on board. Ferry Schippers/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The night rescue of 124 people after they had been on the water for 20 hours by the MV Aquarius Peter Eickmeyer/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The MV Aquarius rescue vessel operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Méditerranée in the Mediterranean Sea Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Jacob Goldberg, MSF's team leader on board the MV Aquarius rescue ship Alva White/MSF

Several “episodes of tension” involving refugees were reported by residents, and police were called to the hotel after a fight broke out between refugees, with two men being taken to hospital for treatment.

The National Association of Italian Municipalities defended Mr Oliveiro’s comments, describing how Calizzano had been one of the first towns in the region to integrate refugees and now housed more refugees than had been originally agreed.

Refugees arriving by sea to Italy are now the main problem faced by the European Union in its efforts to stem mass immigration, the head of the bloc's border agency has said.