"The drawdown of our Embassy was done at pace as the situation in Kabul deteriorated.

Every effort was made to destroy sensitive material", a Foreign Office spokesperson told Reuters in response to the report.

The papers identifying seven Afghans were found by The Times on Tuesday as Taliban fighters patrolled the embassy, the newspaper said. The Times said it handed over the details of three Afghan staff and their eight family members to the Foreign Office.

"Crucially we have now been able to get these three families to safety", a Foreign Office spokesperson told Reuters late on Thursday.