British schoolteacher David Bolam has been released after nearly five months of captivity in Libya, reportedly after payment of a ransom to his Islamist captors.

The Foreign Office in London late on Saturday confirmed he was free, saying they were "glad that David Bolam is safe and well after his ordeal and that he has been reunited with his family".

Bolam was kidnapped by militants in May in Libya's second-largest city Benghazi, much of which is under the control of Islamists.