Fears for aid workers kidnapped in Chechnya

Concern was growing last night for two British aid workers kidnapped four days ago in the breakaway Russian province of Chechnya. The Foreign Office said there had been no contact from the armed gang which seized Jon James and his girlfriend, Camilla Carr, last Wednesday.

They were abducted from the house where they were staying in Grozny by half a dozen masked men. Three people - including their two bodyguards - have been questioned by police.

A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "There has still not been any contact or demands. We have no idea who has got them. We are being very active but I cannot say how, it is too sensitive."

The couple, who are in their 30s, have been working in the region since April. The Foreign Office will not say what part of Britain they are from.

They were working for a local body known as the Centre for Peacemaking and Community Development, helping children who suffered from the 21-month conflict which ended last August.