A tongue-in-cheek stunt highlighting the epidemic of migrant sex attacks in Europe has drawn criticism, after a Danish anti-mass migration party handed out cans of ‘Asyl-Spray’ repellant, which the packaging boasts is “legal” and “effective”.

Handed out to passers-by in Haderslev, Jutland, supporters of The Danish Party (Danskernes Parti) said women should carry it in their purses — but the controversial packages contained just hairspray so to keep within the narrow confines of Danish law banning pepper-spray.

Reports in the Danish press stated the party chose the port town of Haderslev where there is a migrant centre, because they claim residents are more at risk of attack in areas where recently-arrived migrants claiming asylum live.

TV SYD reports the remarks of party chairman Daniel Carlsen who defended the giveaway, saying: “I do not think this is a provocation. We are going in to tackle a real problem in a society where many Danes feel unsafe.

“This is partly because of the fact there are many migrants in the country, and partly because [people] do not have the opportunity to defend themselves.”

The station also reported the remarks of passers-by who received the sprays. One unnamed member of the public was very supportive, saying: “It’s damn good… they are the ones we are protecting ourselves against at the moment”.

Others were less supportive. One resident said: “I think it’s disgusting. I am just so disgusted. I can not find words to express how disgusted I am”.

The censors at Facebook apparently agreed, as a video accompanying the handout advising all Danish women to carry an ‘Asyl-Spray’ in their handbag has been taken down from the site, reports Nettavisen Nyheter.

TV SYD also reports the negative reactions to the spray from across the world, citing coverage from CNN and the Toronto Sun, as well as comment from a spokesman for the International Organisation for Refugees who said it was “abhorrent, hostile, and xenophobic behaviour towards asylum seekers”.

The Danish Party, which campaigns on issues like Danish women having more children as an alternative to mass migration and celebrated Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union, does not have any representation in the Danish parliament. To find votes and get seats, the party faces tough competition from rival groups in what is one of Western Europe’s most anti-migrant nations.

Breitbart London has reported at length on the anti-mass migration policies of Denmark’s centre-right party of government Venestre, whose immigration and integration minister Inger Støjberg took out advertisements in foreign newspapers warning would-be migrants to not bother coming to Denmark. The minister made headlines earlier this year after shouting “get a job” at a pair of migrants who heckled her in the street.

Othe initiatives included slashing benefits received by migrants and only paying out more money if they learnt to speak Danish, and introducing a new, tougher citizenship test. In the first tranche of migrants to apply for citizenship under the new system, almost 70 per cent failed.

While the Danish Party has had to settle with distributing re-labelled hairspray to score political points and raise their profile, in other European countries where the deterrent is not banned, sales have been surging after repeated migrant attacks on European women.

Breitbart London reported on stores in Germany selling out of pepper spray in January, just hours after news of the mass rape attacks by recently-arrived migrants against German girls in the Cologne cathedral square.