There are no plans to step up Britain's naval presence off the coast of Gibraltar in response to a call for help from Chief Minister Peter Caruana, it has emerged.
Mr Caruana wrote to Foreign Secretary William Hague earlier this week urging him to send in the Royal Navy to support Gibraltar's police within the colony's territorial waters after a series of incursions by Spanish vessels.
The plea came after an incident last month in which the Spanish Guardia Civil police entered the territorial waters and were involved in a confrontation with officers of the Royal Gibraltar Police, allegedly using physical force to allow the escape of a Spanish man they were holding.
In a statement issued on Thursday Mr Caruana said it was "difficult to imagine a more serious incident in the context both of challenge to sovereignty and jurisdiction" and said he had written to Mr Hague asking for assistance.
Mr Caruana said he had asked the Foreign Secretary "to take effective action to uphold Her Majesty's Sovereignty of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. This should include the systematic deployment and intervention of the Royal Navy in support and protection of the RGP as they carry out their duties and exercise their civil police jurisdiction to enforce and uphold law and order and the laws of Gibraltar in our waters, exclusively of all others".
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that the letter had been received, but added: "The Royal Navy is already present and their role is well-defined already."
