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Russian broadcaster RT's bank accounts have been blocked in Britain, the firm's editor in chief has said.

Margarita Simonyan wrote on Twitter: "All of our accounts. 'The decision cannot be appealed'. Long live freedom of speech!" Simonyan wrote.

It is unclear whether the accounts have been frozen or if services have simply been withdrawn from RT.

NatWest said it had "undertaken a review" of the broadcaster's banking arrangements and would "no longer provide these facilities".

In a letter to RT's London office the bank also said the decision was final and officials were "not prepared to enter into any discussion in relation to it".

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: “Britain on its way out of the EU abandoned all its commitments to protect the freedom of speech.”

RT and NatWest have been contacted for comment by Mirror Online.

In July last year Barclays bank froze an account belonging to the Russian news agency Rossiya Segodnya allegedly after the firm's head Dmitry Kiselyov was put on a sanctions list.

He said: "To close the account of one of the world's leading news agencies is censorship, the direct obstruction of journalists' work.

"What kind of press freedom and democracy can Britain claim to have if it prevents one of the world's largest news agencies from working in the country?"