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Foreign minister Margaret Beckett has announced she will take her caravan holiday as usual this year, in spite of the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

Though she has recently been elevated into the Foreign Office's top position, caravanning enthusiasts Ms Beckett and husband Leo are nonetheless set to head off on a wine-tasting trip in France at some point this summer.

The couple will be residing in a Bailey Pageant Champagne model, accompanied by security officials in another caravan, although the exact timing of the holiday has not been disclosed due to fears their home may be targeted by burglars in their absence.

A Foreign Office source told BBC News: "She's hoping at some point to go away in the caravan, but she will be in constant touch.

"She will vary her plans according to what is happening - with the type of holiday she has she is flexible."

Ms Beckett's decision to take a trip abroad is a controversial one given the current situation in the Middle East, as hostilities between Israeli and Hizbollah forces continue, with the death toll among both Lebanese and Israeli civilians rising rapidly.

The 63-year-old underwent heart surgery last year that forced her and her husband to miss out on their usual summer caravanning trip and stay in hotels instead, an experience she described as not "my thing at all" in a recent interview with the Independent.