The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched a review into whether RAF bases were used by Jeffrey Epstein.

It is expected the review, first reported by the Telegraph, will look into records and emails, while Defence Secretary John Healey was said to have ordered officials to turn over every stone to establish whether the late sex offender landed his private jet at military sites when visiting the UK.

An MoD source said it would "ruthlessly pursue any information that can shed light on this scandal".

It comes after former Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded a police investigation into whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had used RAF bases to meet Epstein. Brown said he had submitted a five-page dossier to several UK police forces – including the Met, Sussex and Thames Valley Police – providing new and additional information from Epstein-related documents published in the US.

Last Sunday, the Sunday Telegraph reported that the former prime minister was understood to be concerned about a flight Epstein took on a Gulfstream jet that landed at RAF Marham air base in Norfolk in December 2000.

Last year, a BBC News investigation established that around 90 flights linked to Epstein had arrived and departed from UK airports, some with British women on board who say they were abused.

At the time, the Ministry of Defence said it was "standard practice for spare capacity at RAF airfields in the UK to be used for private or commercial aircraft, subject to fees which cover all costs".

Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, who died in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

An MoD spokesperson said: "The defence secretary has ordered a review of all records that the department may hold relating to Epstein flights landing at RAF bases to ensure that any information which relates to Epstein's crimes is uncovered and provided to the relevant authorities.

"The MoD will support any civilian police investigations.

Our thoughts are with all the victims of Epstein's vile crimes. "

Last week, Essex Police said it was "assessing the information that has emerged" about private flights into and out of Stansted Airport, following the US government's release of Epstein materials.

Stansted Airport said in a statement that the terminals used for private flights are "entirely independent" and that "no private jet passengers enter the main airport terminal".

Immigration and customs checks for passengers arriving via private jets are carried out "directly by Border Force", it said, adding that it does not "manage or have any visibility of passenger arrangements on privately operated aircraft"

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