The UK is giving up sovereignty of a remote but strategically important cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean, after more than half a century.

The deal, reached after years of negotiations, will see the UK hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, although the US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia,used by the US government as a military base for its navy ships and long-range bomber aircraft.

The announcement, made in a joint statement by the UK and Mauritian Prime Ministers, ends decades of often fractious negotiations between the two countries.

The deal is still subject to finalisation of a treaty, but both sides have promised to complete it as quickly as possible.