A WORCESTER-BASED MEP has accused Spain of trying to "bully the people of Gibraltar" by using it as a pawn during the Brexit process.

James Carver, who is UKIP's foreign affairs spokesman, has hit out at a "narrow, self-serving agenda" from Spanish officials determined to try and grab the territory.

Last week a crucial European Council document suggested Spain will get a veto on whether the Brexit deal applies to Gibraltar, taking the UK Government by surprise.

Mr Carver has now raised the issue in the European Parliament, condemning the incursion of Spanish warship the 'Infanta Cristina', which the Royal Navy has had to chase off the territory's surrounding waters.

He said: "I find it incredible that shortly after the Spanish foreign minister called for calm, the Spanish Government orders its warship to illegally enter British sovereign territory in an attempt to frighten and bully the people of Gibraltar.

Malvern Gazette:

"In 2002 the people of Gibraltar voted by 99 per cent to one per cent to keep Spain out of Gibraltar affairs.

"They could not make it clearer that they do not want Spain involved in their internal affairs.

"It needs to negotiate with the UK in good faith, not play sordid little games at the behest of a country that has a long history of promoting its own narrow interests wherever and whenever it can.

Malvern Gazette:

"Gibraltar is not on the negotiating table - let us make that fact clear to Donald Tusk (the EU President), and we can then hopefully get on with the real task of negotiating Brexit."

The patrol vessel, which was chased off last Tuesday, was the 100th incursion by Spain around Gibraltar's waters since 2014.

Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted she would never allow Gibraltar, an overseas UK territory, to come under the control of another nation "against their wishes".

Known as 'The Rock', the land has just 30,000 residents but has been a serious source of tension between the two nations.

Worcester MP Robin Walker, a Brexit minister, has already been over to Gibraltar several times in recent months to try and reassure its leading officials amid concerns over Brexit.