BRITAIN'S airborne maritime surveillance capability must be reinstated without delay, according to a report co-written by a former deputy head of the military.

Vice-Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham urged ministers to take action in the light of the increasing threats to UK and international security.

In a paper for the UK National Defence Association, co-authored by Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Roberts, they argue there has been no reduction in the risks to UK maritime interests since the Government's 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

The report says: "International crises are rarely predicted and the need to be able to deploy strategic assets capable of surveying wide areas of land and sea, at short notice, is self-evident."