Scramble to evacuate 300,000 Britons

MINISTERS are scrambling to evacuate up to 300,000 Britons trapped in the Gulf region as the Middle East conflict intensifies.

- BY STEPH SPYRO

More than 100,000 tourists and people in transit, mainly in the United Arab Emirates, have registered their contact details and locations with the British government.

The closure of airports in Dubai and Qatar, alongside the shutting of airspace, have led officials to draw up contingency plans which could include shuttling people in buses for 10 hours to evacuation hubs in Saudi Arabia.

This would allow them to jet home should the skies above their current locations remain largely closed because of Iranian drone and missile strikes.

British nationals in the city were last night advised to stay where they are for now, and to follow the instructions of local authorities and monitor Foreign Office travel advice, which officials expect to change rapidly.

Those in Bahrain, Israel, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE have been urged to register their presence with the Foreign Office online.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We set up a system for British citizens in the region to be able to register, to be able to tell us where they are. So we can give people updated information in a situation that is rapidly evolving.

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“As you can imagine, there are an estimated 300,000 citizens that have been affected and targeted.