A minister has said the UK is "pausing" the process of confirming in law the deal to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while talks happen with the United States.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to scrap the deal last week, despite earlier expressing support for the treaty.

The deal would see the UK cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius, and pay an average cost of £101m a year to lease back a joint UK-US military base on the largest island.

Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer told MPs that following interventions from the US, "we are now discussing those concerns with the United States directly".

He said while the US had expressed support for the treaty between the UK and Mauritius when it was signed last year "there clearly has been a statement from the president of the United States more recently, which is very significant".

He added: "We have a process going through parliament in relation to the treaty.

"We will bring that back to parliament at the appropriate time. We are pausing for discussions with our American counterparts."

US Department of State says it supports the UK's decision to "proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago".

The president says the UK must "not give away" Diego Garcia, shortly after the US appeared to have backed the deal.

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The prime minister says he has discussed the deal with Donald Trump, but there are concerns in Whitehall the US could withdraw support for the agreement.

The Conservatives have raised further concerns after Donald Trump described the agreement as a "great act of stupidity".