Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has downgraded its Bahrain travel advice for its citizens.

The British Embassy in Manama also announced that it would re-open today for the first time in two weeks.

The FCO changed its status to advising against all but necessary travel to Bahrain and that Britons should maintain a high level of security awareness and to exercise caution.

For the last two weeks, British nationals had been advised against all travel to Bahrain, while those already in Bahrain were urged to leave by commercial means unless they had a pressing need to be here.

'The airport remains open and transiting through it is unaffected by this advice,' the FCO stated on its website www.fco.gov.uk.

It advised against travel around the country during the night, maintaining a high level of security awareness and avoiding large crowds.

'Good news for all, we are now able to downgrade our travel advice to recommend against all but essential travel to Bahrain and remove the advice that British nationals should leave,' a spokesman said on its Facebook page.

It said that the embassy would be open for business as usual from today.

'We would like to thank the community for their patience during the last few weeks, which were difficult for us all, and we hope the security situation in Bahrain continues to improve,' said the spokesman.

The embassy is open from 7.30am to 2.30pm from Sunday to Thursday and can be contacted on 17574100.-TradeArabia News Service