Following a meeting of the National Security Council on Tuesday, the UK Government said Huawei would be limited to supplying a maximum of 35% of the technology for the 5G network, and would be barred from all safety-related and critical systems.

The decision will nonetheless trigger a diplomatic standoff with the US, which has called on allies not to use the Chinese company for any of its telecoms systems.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in London for talks with his UK counterpart and the Prime Minister.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has been labelled a security risk by the US Government

The National Security Council meeting chaired by Mr Johnson decided that high risk vendors should be permitted to play only a peripheral role in the network.

Huawei will only supply technology for what is known as the access network, which connects devices and equipment to mobile phone masts.

Advice issued to telecoms operators by the National Cyber Security Centre said companies like Huawei should be excluded from security critical "core" functions, and sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases.

In its evaluation, the National Cyber Security Centre stressed that it was "important to avoid the situation in which the UK becomes nationally dependent on a particular supplier".

It added: "Without government intervention, the NCSC considers there to be a realistic likelihood that due to commercial factors the UK would become 'nationally dependent' on Huawei within three years."

National dependence on a high-risk vendor would present a "significant national security risk", the NCSC said.

MPs will debate the decision when ministers give an update to this Commons this afternoon.

'High risk vendor' Huawei given limited access to UK 5G network