Image copyright AFP/Getty images

Two British skiers have fallen to their deaths while on holiday in the French Alps.

It is believed that the 25-year-olds slipped before falling several hundred metres while off-piste in the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc region.

A third skier - also British - raised the alarm on Sunday morning.

Mountain rescue services arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of being alerted but the two men were pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesman for Le Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne said: "The deceased were skiing off-piste but the route is very well-known and is popular with skiers."

He described conditions as "very unfavourable" and said the "snow was very compacted and very icy", adding that both Britons were believed to have slipped and fallen "several hundred metres to their deaths".

The Foreign Office is providing support to the families of the men.