The UK's Royal Navy will only deploy vessels to protect fishing waters surrounding Northern Ireland if requested to do so by the Stormont Executive, the British Government has said.

It was revealed the UK had "run live exercises" that involve scrambling "naval vessels to respond to threats of illegal fishing in our soon-to-be sovereign waters" as part of efforts to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that four Royal Navy gunboats have been placed on stand-by to guard British waters from EU trawlers if there is no agreement as Afloat reported yesterday.

Reports also suggest that UK Government ministers are considering beefing up Navy powers in legislation to authorise them to board and arrest fishermen found to be contravening post-Brexit rules.

However, the MoD told the Belfast Telegraph that gunships will only be deployed around Northern Ireland if requested to do so.

More details from the newspaper here.