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16 March 2011
Last updated at 04:54 ET
A UK rescue team says they were forced to leave Japan because they could not secure the necessary paperwork from the British embassy in Tokyo.
The International Rescue Corps said they were not given permission to work in Japan because it would have made the embassy legally responsible for them.
A spokesman for the team said it was "gut-wrenching" to be stopped from helping by "your own country".
The Foreign Office said it helped them as much as they could.
A spokesman said it was a matter for the Japanese government as it is responsible for the rescue and humanitarian operations in the country.
'Show stopper' Willie McMartin, operations director at Scotland-based International Rescue Corps (IRC), said: "The team has had excellent help from the Japanese embassy in London and the authorities in Tokyo but it broke down when they couldn't get the relevant paperwork from the British embassy in Tokyo.
"This was the 32nd world disaster we have been to and we've only had problems twice before with host governments in China and Afghanistan.
"We have never encountered the position where the British embassy, our own country, came up with a show-stopper."
Mr McMartin said the team had permission from the Japanese embassy in London but they could not get a letter of authorisation from British officials in Japan stating that they were a bona fide organisation.
They needed this so they could move around the country and buy fuel.
The team arrived in Tokyo on Monday night and caught a flight home at 1300 local time on Wednesday.
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The International Rescue Corps said they were not given permission to work in Japan because it would have made the embassy legally responsible for them.
A spokesman for the team said it was "gut-wrenching" to be stopped from helping by "your own country".
The Foreign Office said it helped them as much as they could.
A spokesman said it was a matter for the Japanese government as it is responsible for the rescue and humanitarian operations in the country.
'Show stopper' Willie McMartin, operations director at Scotland-based International Rescue Corps (IRC), said: "The team has had excellent help from the Japanese embassy in London and the authorities in Tokyo but it broke down when they couldn't get the relevant paperwork from the British embassy in Tokyo.
"This was the 32nd world disaster we have been to and we've only had problems twice before with host governments in China and Afghanistan.
"We have never encountered the position where the British embassy, our own country, came up with a show-stopper."
Mr McMartin said the team had permission from the Japanese embassy in London but they could not get a letter of authorisation from British officials in Japan stating that they were a bona fide organisation.
They needed this so they could move around the country and buy fuel.
The team arrived in Tokyo on Monday night and caught a flight home at 1300 local time on Wednesday.
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