British fugitive arrested during Christmas dinner after 5 years on the run

One of Britain's most wanted fugitives was arrested on Christmas Day as he sat down to dinner at a restaurant in the Netherlands, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced.

Daniel Burdett, aged 28 and suspected ringleader of an organized criminal network which was thought to be behind the importation of firearms into Britain, was arrested by Dutch police in The Hague.

Burdett, from Liverpool, was detained on a European Arrest Warrant after five years on the run, the NCA said in a statement on Thursday.

"The arrest was part of a National Crime Agency investigation into a crime group thought to be using corrupt truck drivers to smuggle firearms and ammunition from the Netherlands into the UK," a spokesperson for the NCA said.

Burdett, who is also wanted by police in Liverpool for drug offences, is facing 10 charges of conspiracy to import firearms and conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.

The NCA said Burdett will now appear before Dutch magistrates who will consider his extradition to Britain, where he will face the charges.