Over 1,000 bullets and 11 guns have been lost or stolen from the Army, the Ministry of Defence has admitted amid fears they could be in the hands of criminals.

The missing munitions, including eight rifles and 1,000 rounds of ammunition taken in one burglary from a Merseyside army cadet facility, all disappeared within twelve months, a Sky News investigation found.

The news comes just weeks after the Telegraph revealed hundreds of unexploded munitions had been found in Scotland over the past three years.

Land mines, grenades and flares have all been recovered, including several in the city centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and were described as “routine” by the Ministry of Defence.

Amongst the ordnance found were several phosphorous flares which burn at extremely high temperatures and can cause life threatening injuries when activated.

Explosive munitions were also among the items reported missing from 26 September 2018 to 30 September 2019, the Sky News investigation found. It is thought that most, if not all, of the weapons and munitions are still missing.

Previously, military weapons have been discovered for sale on the internet.

A spokesperson for the Gun Control Network, which lobbies for tighter controls on firearms in the UK, told Sky News: "We note from time to time weapons are reported 'lost' on training manoeuvres in the UK.