A US congressman has been criticised by officials at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum after he posted a video on the internet taken inside a former Nazi death camp gas chamber.

Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana known as "the Cajun John Wayne" filmed himself and narrated the footage which was then posted on his website.

In a statement the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum said: "Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It's not a stage."

In response to Mr Higgins' video a photograph was also posted on the internet of a plaque at Auschwitz.

The plaque reads: "You are in a building where the SS murdered thousands of people. Please maintain silence here: remember their suffering and show respect for their memory."