Karl Bushby, from the northern English city of Hull, was detained on Saturday along with a US national who filmed his Straits crossing because they did not enter Russian territory through a border control checkpoint and therefore did not get entry stamps in their passports, they said.

"They claimed they planned to go through all required procedures in the village of Provideniye, but lost their way due to poor weather," Andrei Orlov, a spokesman for the Russian FSB security service in the northeast border region, told AFP by telephone.

The pair were also found to be in possession of a high-calibre pistol -- the NTV television network said this was for protection against polar bears -- a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) navigation device and detailed topographical maps, he said.

Bushby began his odyssey in Chile in 1998 and his trek north through the Americas, up to Alaska and over the Bering Straits into Russia has so far covered 18,000 miles, half of the 36,000 miles he plans to cover in his walk back to England, scheduled to be completed around 2010.

NTV warned his walk -- Bushby has travelled only on foot since 1996, and his march would be the longest continuous pedestrian journey ever recorded if completed -- could come to an unceremonious end in Russia due to the border violations.

But ITAR-TASS news agency quoted a spokesman for the British Foreign Office in London as voicing hope that the incident would be resolved soon and Bushby would be allowed to continue on his way heading west, to walk across Russia and Europe before returning to England.

The agency said neither Bushby nor his companion -- reported to be a US national whom US officials declined to identify by name -- were under arrest.

"At present, both are in a hotel in the village of Lavrentiya and are giving evidence to the investigative group," ITAR-TASS quoted another FSB official in the region as saying.

NTV broadcast remarks from Bushby's father, speaking by phone from Hereford, England, saying that his son had faced many dangers and obstacles earlier on his travels but had been surprised to run into snags that threatened his journey in Russia.

An article published Monday in the British newspaper Daily Telegraph said the first recorded crossing of the Bering Straits on foot was in 1998 by a Russian father and son team, and recounted how Bushby and the cameraman had followed in their footsteps.

"We could often hear the ice breaking up just a couple of miles behind us," the paper quoted Bushby as saying.

"It was very scary, like the sound of a distant express train."

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