A British RAF base in Cyprus was targeted by a "suspected drone strike" on Sunday night, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The MoD said the armed forces were responding to the attack at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus at around midnight local time (22:00 GMT).

The BBC understands there were no casualties in the suspected strike.

"Our force protection in the region is at the highest level and the base has responded to defend our people," the MoD said.

It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites.

A Cyprus government spokesperson said that the incident "involved an unmanned drone, which caused limited damage", according to the Reuters news agency.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the Sovereign Bases Administration confirmed that it was planning the "temporary dispersal of non-essential personnel" from RAF Akrotiri Station.

The temporary dispersal notice would only apply to the military base, it said, adding that there was no need for residents to leave the nearby Akrotiri village.

"All other locations, workplaces, businesses and facilities will remain open as normal and there are no restrictions in place," the statement read.

The latest conflict began on Saturday morning when Israel and the US launched a "massive" and ongoing attack against Iran's leadership and military, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei among those killed. Iran has responded by firing ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region, targeting Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

Defence Secretary John Healey said earlier on Sunday that British troops and civilians in the Middle East were being put at risk from "indiscriminate attacks" by Iran.

In a separate earlier incident, Healey said two ballistic missiles were fired towards Cyprus although he was "pretty sure" it was not being targeted.

A Cypriot government spokesman later said Sir Keir had "clearly confirmed that Cyprus was not a target" during a telephone call with the country's president Nikos Christodoulides.

On Sunday, an RAF Typhoon jet operating out of Qatar shot down an Iranian drone in a "defensive air patrol", the Ministry of Defence said.

It was the first time a UK fighter had brought down an Iranian drone since the US and Iran strikes began.

Earlier, a UK counter-drone unit in Iraq took down an Iranian drone that was heading towards a coalition base housing UK service personnel.

However, Sir Keir said the UK had learned lessons from the "mistakes of Iraq", and was not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and would "not join offensive action now"

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