A Briton arrested in Chechnya has been deported by the Russian authorities.

Brian Graham, 61, is thought to have been on a humanitarian mission in the breakaway republic. Reports said he was detained in Urus-Martan, 12 miles south-west of Grozny.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "He has been deported from Moscow and is heading for Copenhagen. We do not know where he will go after that."

She said earlier it was understood he was accused of breaking his visa conditions.

The British Embassy in Moscow said earlier it received news of the arrest on Friday, but it was not clear exactly when it occurred.

Mr Graham had worked at one time for a Danish non-governmental organisation, but it was not known what he was doing in Chechnya when he was detained.

Ambushes

Most western aid organisations have pulled out of Chechnya, and few foreigners visit, except with armed escorts, mainly because of the fear of kidnapping.

Chechen rebels have been fighting for independence for several years.

Russian forces, sent back into the province in October 1999, maintain shaky control over the it but are attacked and ambushed almost daily.