Four members of the Royal Navy have been charged with sexual assault after an alleged incident in Nova Scotia, Canada's military police said.

The sailors were in the country to attend a military sports tournament, the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) said.

The men have appeared in court charged with one count of sexual assault each.

The incident allegedly took place in barracks at an air base at Shearwater, near Halifax, on Thursday.

The alleged victim is a woman not in the military, the CFNIS said.

The men have been named as Craig Stoner, Darren Smalley, Joshua Finbow and Simon Radford, in a statement on the Government of Canada website.

Canadian officials said they were members of the Royal Navy ice hockey team.

'Full co-operation'

Reports in Canada suggested the men were remanded to a jail until Monday, while lawyers negotiate bail terms.

"This is a disturbing accusation of sexual assault," Lt-Col Francis Bolduc said in a statement.

"I'm pleased with the full co-operation provided by the British authorities to support the hard work and diligence of the CFNIS team in responding to this matter."

The UK Ministry of Defence said it was aware of allegations against four members of the Royal Navy.

"The Royal Navy takes allegations of this nature very seriously, however as legal proceedings continue it would be inappropriate to comment further," an MoD spokeswoman said.