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In 1977, the Geneva Conventions governing conduct during wartime were revised to prohibit “widespread, long term, and severe damage to the natural environment.”

The revised policy was given the go-ahead at a recent board meeting but discussions aimed at updating the current guidelines had been ongoing for some time.

The revised figure makes it the deadliest known attack since insurgents began operating in northern Benin at the beginning of the decade.

The reports focus on how some 3,000 names of people originally identified as fatalities were removed from later revised lists.

The project was estimated to cost £530m when it was announced by the chancellor at the time, George Osborne, before being revised later that year to £888m.