Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy's League party, has called for a snap election, saying differences with coalition partners cannot be mended, reports BBC.

A failed attempt by the Five Star Movement to derail plans for a high-speed rail link showed the coalition could no longer govern, he said.

Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio said his party did not fear another election.

Political clashes over the project for a railway between the Italian city of Turin and French city of Lyon led Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to put tenders on hold in March.

The multi-billion-euro TAV (Treno Alta Velocità) link involves digging a 58km (36-mile) tunnel through the Alps.