The US military will close a major air base in Britain and withdraw from more than a dozen installations across Europe as part of a reorganisation of forces.

The Pentagon says US operations at RAF Mildenhall in Britain will end and the money-saving consolidation plan will result in a slight decrease in force levels in the region but no loss to American military power.

Some of the forces withdrawn from Britain, Portugal and elsewhere will be shifted to Germany and Italy.

There are currently about 67,000 US troops stationed in Europe.