A British ex-soldier accused of attending terrorist training camps run by militia fighting against Islamic State has had terrorism charges against him dropped.

James Matthews, who had joined Kurdish forces targeting extremists, was charged after returning to Britain to attend the funeral of Jac Holmes, a fellow British volunteer fighting with the Kurds who was killed in Raqqa in late 2017.

In the first case of its kind, he was charged with receiving instruction or training in Iraq and Syria on or before February 15 2016 "for purposes connected to the commission of preparation of terrorism".

The 43-year-old, from Dalston, east London, had been due to face trial at the Old Bailey in November.

But at a hearing before Mr Justice Edis on Tuesday, prosecutor Tom Little QC announced the Crown had concluded there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction on "evidential grounds".