Grant Bailey, in his 50s, was arrested by Taliban police during a security clampdown in the capital Kabul, reports Daily Mirror.

Foreign Office officials are trying to locate him.

It is feared Bailey, who was working for a Non Government Organisation in Afghanistan, is being held in one of Kabul notorious prison complexes, reports the newspaper.

A UK security source told the Daily Mirror he was last heard from on Saturday and had been arrested at gunpoint.

A source told the Daily Mirror: “We were quite surprised he went back to Kabul after the western withdrawal as the security situation there is obviously much worse.

“Added to that the Taliban government is making it very difficult for the few expats working there, making it very difficult to travel," the source said.

A lot of people are trying to get to the bottom of what has happened to him, where he is being held and under what charges," the source added.