A member of the British armed forces from the Royal Navy ship HMS Albion has died in Stockholm, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.

The MoD told the BBC it was aware of “an incident in Stockholm which resulted in the death of a service person”.

It added it was continuing to assist local authorities in their enquiries.

The Royal Navy was taking part in an international exercise to defend Sweden from a mock invasion.

A navy spokesperson said the sailor’s next of kin had been informed.

HMS Albion, an amphibious ship based in Devonport, Plymouth, was deployed to the Baltic Sea for Exercise Aurora – described by the Royal Navy as “the largest Swedish national defence exercise in more than quarter of a century”.

The exercise involved troops from the UK and Sweden working with armed forces from Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania, with Albion also home to a number of US Marines throughout.