UK is ‘very close’ to identifying jihadi John

British intelligence agencies are "very close" to identifying the apparently English jihadist who beheaded American journalist James Foley, the UK’s ambassador to the US has said.

MI5 and MI6 have been piecing together intelligence and evidence from the horrific video footage to track down the identity of the Islamic State killer who has been dubbed “jihadi John”.

Ambassador Peter Westmacott told US news network CNN Britain is on the brink of establishing who he is.