Three abandoned, shot-up British embassy vehicles have been found near the site where five Britons were kidnapped in Ethiopia.

They were found near the remote village of Hamedali, the last staging post before the Afar Desert region's famous salt lakes, 500 miles north-east of the capital Addis Ababa.

The vehicles still had luggage, shoes and mobile phones inside.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed that the cars were part of the British embassy convoy.

Experts from the Foreign Office are in the Afar Desert where the group was last seen and, according to reports, SAS troops have been sent to the region. The Ministry of Defence refused to comment on whether special forces are involved.

The Britons, who included members of the British Embassy in Addis Ababa, went missing last week. Ethiopian police said 13 Ethiopians, working as drivers and translators, were also taken.

In a statement, the British Ambassador to Ethiopia, Robert Dewar, said the welfare of those missing is "our absolute priority".

He said Embassy staff in Addis Ababa were working hard to this end and were joined on Friday by a team from London to support their efforts.

Further staff would join as needed, he said.

"We are coordinating closely with the Ethiopian authorities, other governments in the region and with other European governments. We thank them all for their continued cooperation," he said.

Meanwhile, neighbouring country Eritrea has dismissed as "baseless fabrication" accusations that its forces are behind the kidnappings.

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