A manhunt has been launched in Austria after a mayor was shot dead in an apparent dispute over hunting permits.

Franz Hofer, the mayor of Kirchberg ob der Donau, was killed in a field near the village of Altenfelden, in Austria’s rural Muhlviertel region, on Monday afternoon.

A second man was shot dead a short while later, an Austrian police spokesman said.

Police have named the suspected gunman as Roland Drexler, 56, who is understood to be a hunter, and is described as extremely dangerous.

An Austrian police special forces unit has been drafted in to assist with the manhunt, as well as two helicopters and an armoured vehicle.