Britain must follow the US in barring Chinese companies from fifth-generation telecoms projects or risk jeopardising its national security, a new report says.

The Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) said it would be "naive" and "irresponsible" to allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to access the UK's telecommunications system and called on the government to pass legislation as a matter of urgency introducing tougher restrictions on investments in critical infrastructure.

Charles Parton, the Mandarin-speaking former British diplomat who wrote the report, said China is pursuing a "rigorous" and "ruthless" advancement of its interests at the expense of the West, and that Britain is highly likely to be targeted with a range of "unacceptable" covert influence tools already used against Australia and New Zealand.

"It is not right to place the long-term security of this country in the hands of another country with a very different view of is own long term security and interests," Mr Parton told The Daily Telegraph.

"Britain is an important member of Five Eyes and that underpins our global status and importance. If the US, Australia and New Zealand won't let Huawei in, they may conclude that our own systems are not secure and we risk losing that."