The police and the military were warned eight months ago that the banned extremist group National Action was trying to infiltrate the Armed Forces, it has emerged.

Five men, four of whom are serving soldiers, are currently being held on on suspicion of terrorism offences after a "pre-planned and intelligence-led" by the authorities.

But as the questioning of the men continued, it emerged that a leading anti-extremism group has repeatedly highlighted the fact that National Action - which was banned by the Government in December 2016 in the wake of the murder of MP Jo Cox - was still active.

A blog titled "A look behind the scenes in National Action", posted in December 2016 just before the ban on National Action came into force, detailed training and "hate camps" that had been organised by National Action.

The Hope not Hate blog pointed out: "A number of National Action supporters/members have decided however to apply to join the British Army."

In January the charity then named and photographed a man who they identified as a National Action member who had sucessfully signed up to the Army.