About 500 Venezuelan women in search of food have broken through border controls separating the western state of Tachira from neighbouring Colombia.

The women said their families were going hungry because of severe food shortages in Venezuela.

Hours later, they crossed back into Venezuela carrying basic goods and singing the Venezuelan anthem.

Venezuela is going through an economic crisis and many Venezuelans say they struggle to feed their families.

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Venezuela closed large parts of its border with Colombia in August 2015 to prevent subsidised good from being smuggled from Venezuela into Colombia.

Venezuelans who want to cross into Colombia in states where the border has been closed need a special permit to do so.

But as the scarcity of food gets worse in Venezuela, many have crossed the porous border illegally.

Colombian officials said a similar incident had happened in Puerto Santander, 60km north of Cucuta, in June, when 400 Venezuelans crossed into Colombia to buy essential goods.

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin is due to travel to Cucuta on Wednesday to speak to the local authorities about a possible plan of action, officials said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blamed the shortages on an "economic war" being waged against his government.

At a military parade to mark independence day on Tuesday, he said that Venezuela's military power had to keep growing to counter the "unconventional war" he was facing.