A flagship £3bn Royal Navy aircraft carrier built at Rosyth has sprung a leak.

The 65,000-tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest and most powerful warship built in the UK, was accepted into the Royal Navy fleet earlier this month.

Engineers discovered an issue with the shaft seal on board the vessel and it is understood to have been leaking for some time.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth has been undergoing sea trials since June when it sailed out of Rosyth shipyard in Fife, where the 920ft-long carrier was assembled from 2011.

Construction work on the vessel began in 2009 at six shipyards in Govan, Scotstoun, Appledore, Hebburn, Portsmouth and Birkenhead, involving around 10,000 workers.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: "An issue with a shaft seal has been identified during HMS Queen Elizabeth's sea trials; this is scheduled for repair while she is alongside at Portsmouth.

"It does not prevent her from sailing again and her sea trials programme will not be affected."

Welcoming it into the Royal Navy fleet around two weeks ago, the Queen described the warship as "the best of British" which would "in the years and decades ahead represent the country's resolve on the global stage".