World Jamboree: North Ayrshire Scouts safe and well

The 4,500-strong British contingent abandoned the camp on Saturday after complaints about extreme heat and poor sanitary conditions and headed to the capital Seoul.

Hundreds had fallen ill amid 35C (95F) heat, with Scouts from the UK among those affected by heat exhaustion.

And the North Ayrshire group are all fine and well, their leaders confirmed today.

They posted on Facebook: "Our Jamboree Contingent members have moved back to Seoul to continue their Jamboree Experience within a safe environment.

"Can I just personally thank all contingent leaders and IST members for supporting our young people in the toughest of times.

"A full and active programme will remain in place for everyone to enjoy and cherish forever."

The British group of 4,500 people, the largest in attendance, arrived at the campsite in Saemangeum last week but were transferred to hotels in Seoul on Saturday.

Attended by more than 40,000 young people, the World Scout Jamboree has been plagued by problems from the very start.

Today (Monday), the entire Jamboree campsite was abandoned on orders of the South Korean government - with a tropical typhoon on the way.

The government said it had listened to the concerns of the World Organisation for Scout Movements and national delegations, which had been requesting they close the site for days.

Some 36,000 people in Saemangeum will be taken by bus to areas which are not in the path of the storm, South Korea's Vice Minister for Disaster and Safety Management, Kim Sung-Ho, has said.

UK Scouts chief executive Matt Hyde said he felt let down by organisers and told the BBC the site had become a health risk.

He said the relocation will cost the UK Scout Association well over £1m from its reserves.

He told reporters: "We had commitments to those reserves that will of course mean that we can't now do things that we wanted to do over the next three to five years."