Britain's foreign minister David Lammy has referred himself to the environment watchdog after going fishing in a carp pond with US Vice President JD Vance without a licence, the UK foreign office said on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has referred himself to the Environment Agency because he did not have a rod licence to go fishing with US Vice President JD Vance. Mr Lammy failed to catch any fish when he hosted Mr Vance at his grace-and-favour retreat at Chevening House, Kent this month.

The foreign secretary's failure to buy a valid rod licence was described as an "administrative error", but it could have netted him a fine of up to £2,500 - even though he did not catch anything.