A suspected Russian spy made it across to Torquay in a commercial cargo ship sparking fears that Devon’s military bases could be targeted.

According to an article in The i Newspaper it happened earlier this year although the paper would not reveal the name of the ship.

The paper said: ‘The reporting is based on a cache of intelligence showing the movements of suspected spies as well as maritime travel and crew logs and interviews with seven security sources from Nato countries.’

Although it is reported that the suspected spy headed east to the Lulworth Firing Range in Dorset had they gone in our direction they would have had a choice of Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, HMNB Devonport, RM Bickleigh Barracks, RM Stonehouse Barracks and others.

A second suspected Russian spy landed at Middlesborough then Grangemouth.

Western security forces consider the use of European shipping lanes to be a ‘grey zone battlefield’ and the possible spies are thought to have entered the country making the most of less stringent border checks than at airports.

In 2021 198,000 or around 10 per cent of the world’s maritime workforce were Russian nationals including 71,000 officers.

It is suspected that a small percentage of them are Russian agents and they may be used more frequently since 23 Russian intelligence officials were expelled in 2018 following the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury that led to the death of English woman Dawn Sturgess.

Usually UK-based agents on diplomatic postings are used but there are now fewer of them since the expulsion.

Almost 3,000 individuals have been sanctioned by the UK since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022.

The UK has toughened up the movement of Russian actors with the National Security Act which was introduced in 2023.

Russia has been designated under the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.