Britain's prisons are being readied for an expected influx of Islamic State jihadis returning to Britain from Syria, the Justice Secretary has disclosed.

David Gauke said "a lot of work" is being done by British authorities to ensure they are ready if large groups of British Isil fighters attempt to return home.

Hundreds of British extremists could soon be Britain's "problem" after Isil was largely defeated in Syria and Iraq, he said.

In an interview in the Evening Standard newspaper Mr Gauke did not reveal how many are expected to return, although the Government has previously estimated that 850 UK-linked individuals went to engage in the Syrian conflict.

Around 15 per cent of those are thought to have been killed in the fighting, while around half have already returned to the UK.

Mr Gauke said: "There is a likelihood that we are going to see people returning from the Middle East in the months ahead and many of them are going to become our problem within the prison system.

"We need to make sure that there's the proper approach to them.

"This is an issue that is going to be very significant for the criminal justice system as a whole and the prison system and is one of the big challenges that we have to face."