A foreign diplomat was expelled from the UK after allegations of two rapes and one attempted rape, the Foreign Office has revealed.

The individual involved and the country represented have not been identified.

The Foreign Office said that the diplomat - who also faced an allegation of malicious communication - was thrown out of the UK after the country involved rejected a request for immunity to be waived in the case.

The allegations were among 12 serious or significant offences allegedly committed by people entitled to diplomatic immunity in 2017.

Nationalities - but not identities - of diplomats facing criminal allegations are normally made public in the round-up of cases released annually by the Foreign Office (FCO).

But officials said that in the case of the rape allegations, the embassy involved is so small that identifying the nationality could result in inaccurate speculation about other mission staff.