Left near a tree on a nondescript street on the outskirts of Moscow, the fake rock at the centre of the most embarrassing espionage scandal between Britain and Russia since the end of the cold war looks innocuous enough.

Light brown, 30 centimetres wide, and hollowed out to allow a waterproof box to fit snugly inside, the rock yesterday took on Gibraltar-sized proportions as Russia accused Britain of using it as a covert transmitter to pass messages to agents."

Incredible story in The Guardian