Construction work on a new British embassy in Morocco and a refurbishment of the ambassador's residence in Moscow have been shelved until next April
The Foreign Office's decision to defer work on these buildings follows a security review begun after the bombing of the embassy in Istanbul last year. This has given priority to countries where diplomatic staff are considered to be at the greatest risk.

It emerged last month that proposed embassies in Sri Lanka, Poland and Qatar had all been put on hold until the next financial year, and projects in Yemen and Indonesia were being speeded up. Additional funds have also been channelled to the embassy in Turkey.

The reason for the delay in some projects appears to be linked to the fact that the embassy in Iraq is costing more than expected. It had one false start with a flat-pack design before it was decided to redevelop an existing building in Baghdad.

We have had to delay some expenditure to fund those projects that are considered priorities in the current climate

Foreign Office spokesperson

The project in Morocco was due to start on site this month, and the ambassador's residence in Moscow had a designer and project manager on board.