American defence planners are inquiring whether the British government would accept the interceptor missiles and radar, designed to knock out any ballistic missiles fired by terrorists or Iran before they reach the United States, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed British officials.

The United States preferred to put its European base in either Poland or the Czech Republic, but has turned to Britain because of increasing opposition to the idea in the two central European countries.

"A few weeks ago it looked like we were out of the woods on this one," an unnamed senior British source was quoted as saying.

"That has changed because Central Europe no longer looks like such an easy option."

The head of the US missile defense agency, General Henry Obering, said Tuesday he expects to make recommendations in a matter of months on where to position interceptor missiles and radar in Europe.

The European site would be the first expansion outside of the United States of an unproven US missile defense system that currently is aimed at thwarting a limited long-range missile attack by North Korea.

Speaking to The Times, Riki Ellison, head of the Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance, a pressure group, said: "The UK has always been the fall-back option and there is some concern about whether Poland and the Czech Republic will turn out to be stable partners in the same way that you guys have been."

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