THE FIRST rescue flight carrying evacuees from Afghanistan has landed in Oxfordshire.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft carrying evacuated UK nationals and Afghans landed at RAF Brize Norton, near Carterton at around 11pm on Tuesday night. 

It is one of a number of flights out of the Afghanistan capital, Kabul, which is expected to arrive in the UK over the coming days.

The Ministry of Defence said the first flight of British nationals and embassy staff arrived at the base on Sunday night.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has advised UK nationals in Afghanistan who are able to safely leave the country to do so 'immediately'.

Royal Navy Vice Admiral Sir Ben Key said on Tuesday British armed forces were working to evacuate about 6,000 people from Afghanistan via Kabul.

He told Sky News: “How long have we got to do it? 

"We don’t really know, so every day we are working as hard as we can to bring as many forward into this pipeline as we possibly can.

“Clearly there is a dynamic political situation running across the city.

“We make no assumptions about that other than we really can’t afford to pause and wait.”