Four British schoolgirls and their teacher have reportedly been sexually assaulted at gunpoint on a trip to Ghana.

A Ghanaian security guard was said to have been shot and seriously injured as he tried to stop the attack near the capital of Accra on Saturday night.

The girls, aged 16 and 17, were on a school volunteering trip to the West African country, according to The Sun.

Reports said they were assaulted by a man armed with a rifle in a walled compound where they had been staying in dormitory-style accommodation with a larger group of pupils.

The Foreign Office is providing support to the victims and is in contact with Ghanaian authorities, who are investigating.

The girls have flown home and are reportedly been treated in a British hospital. Their school cannot be named.

About 90,000 British nationals visit Ghana each year.