A British sailor has been sentenced to death in Egypt for drug smuggling.

A court official said Charles Raymond Ferndale, 74, was among a group of five people caught trying to smuggle three tons of cannabis into Egypt via the Red Sea.

The others are reported to be from Pakistan and the Seychelles.

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said it was "extremely concerned" at the sentence and would do its "utmost to prevent this execution".

The five death sentences were originally passed on 7 April and confirmed on Monday.

The court in the city of Hurghada also imposed a fine of 85 million Egyptian pounds (£8m).

The BBC's Claire Read, in Cairo, said the verdicts could be appealed.

The case dates back to 2011 when four of the defendants were arrested on board a ship near the Red Sea coastal town of Marsa Alam. The fifth, from Pakistan, fled the scene. However, he was sentenced to death in absentia.

The Foreign Office said: "We are opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances.

"Our consular team in Cairo are in contact with the British prisoner and we will do our utmost to prevent this execution."