Britain scrambled fighter jets on Thursday after two Russian military aircraft were spotted near its airspace, officials have confirmed.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the Russian Bear bombers were seen off the coast of Cornwall, south-west England, but did not enter Britain’s airspace.

Royal Air Force fighter jets escorted the bombers until they were beyond Britain’s “area of interest”, added the MOD.

It comes just weeks after a similar incident in January, which caused disruption to civilian aircraft.

PUTIN A “REAL AND PRESENT DANGER” – CLAIMThe controversy over Russian bombers near British airspace comes as the government’s defence secretary, Michael Fallon, claimed Vladimir Putin poses a “real and present danger” to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Fallon said Putin could instigate a campaign of undercover tactics to try and destabilise the three former Soviet republics.

“I’m worried about Putin,” Fallon told the Times and Daily Telegraph newspap