The father of two boys, aged three and four, has been sent to prison in France after rotting their teeth with cake and Coca-Cola, prosecutors say.

The man, described as an alcoholic who was violent to his wife and children, was jailed for three months.

Limoges Criminal Court found he had failed to meet his obligations as a parent between 2016 and 2018.

The eldest child had to have seven rotten teeth taken out, while his younger brother does not speak.

Both boys have been taken into foster care, where they are being fed a healthy diet.

Carole Papon, a representative of the victims' aid association France Victimes 87, said the father could "neither read, nor write, nor count, doesn't realise the seriousness of the situation, and spent all his welfare money on alcohol". 

The family "had nothing to eat. They only had Coca-Cola to drink," she said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Bruno Robinet said the boys had been "left to their own devices".

"There was no fridge, the children slept on a mattress without covers and there were no toys... Their father fed them on cakes and Coke," he told news agency AFP.