A police officer is in critical condition in Bavaria after being shot by a member of the far-Right “Reich Citizens” movement.

The gunman lay in wait for police who had come to seize his private gun collection and opened fire without warning.

The Reich Citizens refuse to accept the fall of the pre-war German Empire and do not recognise the authority of the modern German state.

They are often dismissed as harmless eccentrics who issue their own driving licenses in the name of the “German Reich”, and try to avoid paying tax.

But Wednesday’s incident was much more serious, and has led to calls for political action against the movement.