Angela Merkel was facing a possible government crisis on Tuesday as a deep rift opened with one of her coalition partners over migrant policy.

The German chancellor was locked in a stand-off with her interior minister over plans to turn away asylum-seekers at the German border.

Horst Seehofer abruptly called off a press conference scheduled to announce his new asylum policy as it emerged Mrs Merkel had blocked the plans.

But the interior minister was refusing to back down over the issue, leading to fears of a power struggle within the government.

Any move to sack Mr Seehofer by Mrs Merkel could lead to the collapse of her coalition. The interior minister is leader of her Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and could pull it out of the government, leaving Mrs Merkel without a majority in parliament.