Former intelligence chief warns of threat to Britain from Russian spies

London, July 4(ANI): Former head of MI5, Stella Rimington believes that Russia still possesses "a very large and well-resourced intelligence community" which remains a threat to British economic and security interests.

"The successor organizations to the KGB are every bit as active as their predecessor," The Telegraph quoted Rimington, as saying.

"Are the Russians up to the same sort of thing in Britain? You bet they are, if they think they can get away with it," she added.

She further said that the threat posed by Russia risked putting a "considerable strain" on Britain's security services.

Rimington's comments come after a series of arrests last week in the US, which led to the smashing of an alleged Russian spy ring that had been operating undercover for at least a decade.

Among those arrested is Anna Chapman, who married Briton Alex Chapman in 2002 and moved to South Kensington in West London in 2004, where she worked for Barclays and a private jet company.

The 28-year-old moved to the US in February.

Chapman has been accused of conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and could be sentenced to a five-year prison term if the charges are proved. (ANI)