PICTURES of Old Trafford stadium were found on a phone allegedly used by Brussels bombing suspect Mohamed Abrini while in the UK, a court has heard.

Abrini, who is in custody in Belgium and is also wanted over the Paris attacks, also described England as a difficult target because of its "developed secret service".

The comments, made to Belgian investigators on April 21, 2016, were read at Kingston Crown Court this week, where Zakaria Boufassil, 26, is accused of paying Abrini £3,000, along with Mohammed Ali Ahmed.

Abrini was dubbed the Man in the Hat after he was caught on CCTV before the Brussels airport bombing in April.

Abrini, who travelled to Britain from Syria via Turkey, told the investigators: "On being arrested by you, neither in London, nor in Birmingham, nor in Manchester have I been on any reconnaissance trips in relation to preparatory terrorist attacks."

He added: "There's no plan to target England as a potential site for a terrorist act. From what I know, it's France who is declared the enemy of Islamic State.

"I think England has a more developed secret service, better observation techniques, etc ... and it's therefore more difficult to attack."

On Friday, jurors were shown telecommunications data that found a handset attributed to Abrini during his trip contained images of sites including St Martin's Church and a Selfridges in the Birmingham city centre, as well items such as a roulette gaming machine.

Prosecutors suggested that Abrini took "a lot of images" during the visit, including of Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, but posed there was no suggestion of any intention or motivation beyond a general "tourism interest".

Abrini claims he was satisfying his gambling addiction during a trip to the UK, not scouting for terror targets.

Boufassil and Ahmed, both from Birmingham, are charged with supplying money to Abrini between June 1, 2014, and April 16, 2016, with the intention of committing or assisting another to commit acts of terrorism.

Boufassil has pleaded not guilty and denies sharing the intention of Ahmed, who has admitted the offence.

The trial before Justice Jeremy Baker continues.