Bavarian governor packs 31 migrants onto a coach and sends them on seven-hour journey to Angela Merkel's office in Berlin after warning the German leader: 'We can't manage'

• Migrants sent from Landshut in south east 340 miles to outside the Chancellor's office in the German capital
• Bavarian politician had told Merkel he would send refugees to her office 
• Peter Dreier said last year he would carry out threat if district received more than 1,800 migrants 
• Berlin has said they will shelter the refugees for tonight after they arrived in the centre of the city 

By JULIAN ROBINSON and ISABEL HUNTER FOR MAILONLINE and AGENCIES

PUBLISHED: 12:56 GMT, 14 January 2016 | UPDATED: 22:43 GMT, 14 January 2016

An irate politician in Bavaria has sent a bus packed with 31 migrants on a seven-hour journey to Angela Merkel's office in Berlin after warning the German leader: 'We can't manage'.

The refugees were put on a coach in Landshut, the southeastern town of Bavarian governor Peter Dreier, and transported 340 miles to the German capital.

Dreier appeared to be acting on a threat he made to Merkel last year. Critical of her stance that Germany can cope with the influx of migrants, he is said to have issued a warning to the chancellor in a phone call in October. 

And in an apparent victory for the Bavarian governor, the refugee will be allowed to stay in Berlin and not in Bavaria - at least for tonight. 

But while the media and police stood around the bus, Berlin city officials inside were seen negotiating with the Bavarians, as Syrians looked on with worried faces, glancing nervously at the TV cameras outside.

After two hours, Dreier said he had agreed to personally pay for the refugees' first night in a Berlin hotel, stressing that the bus had also been laid on by 'a private person', not with taxpayers money. 

He said some of the refugees wanted to later take a look at available Berlin accommodation, others had asked to travel on to another city, Hamburg, and whoever wanted to could return to Landshut.

'Let's get some rest and see tomorrow,' said Dreier, of the small party 'Free Voters', sporting a traditional Bavarian coat for his trip to the capital.

The head of German refugee support group Pro Asyl, Guenther Burkhardt, criticised the refugee road trip, saying 'people are being exploited for the sake of media footage'.

'This doesn't solve the problems... this is a stunt that misuses the plight of refugees to send the message 'We want to close the borders',' he said.

Merkel has been praised for opening Germany's doors to those fleeing war and misery, but has also weathered harsh criticism, especially from Bavaria state, the main gateway for arriving refugees and migrants.

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