The crew's log, obtained by the BBC and confirmed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), states: "The bomb bay heating mixing chamber cladding was soaked with fuel.

"Fuel was also observed on the pipework on the roof of the bomb bay area."

An MoD spokeswoman said the aircraft managed to land safely after the incident on Monday and an investigation had been launched.

"The Nimrod fleet has not been grounded," she added.

"As a precautionary measure, air-to-air refuelling has been suspended for all Nimrod aircraft, until the results of a full investigation have been considered."

Concerns have previously been raised about the British Royal Air Force's Nimrod fleet, which first entered service more than 30 years ago.

The entire fleet of reconnaissance aircraft, with its distinctive "double bubble" fuselage and protruding nosecone, was grounded earlier this year after a dent was found in a fuel pipe.

One Nimrod crashed in Afghanistan on September 2, 2006, killing all 14 armed service personnel onboard -- the British military's single biggest loss of life in one incident since the Falklands War in 1982.

It exploded shortly after refuelling. A technical fault has been blamed but a military board of inquiry has yet to report.

The father of one of the victims said on October 2 this year that the RAF was warned about the fire risks on Nimrods two years before the crash in Kandahar province.

The RAF operates 16 Nimrod MR2 aircraft out of RAF base Kinloss in north-east Scotland.

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