The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and his Spanish counterpart, Jose Maria Aznar, have had talks in Bonn ahead of today's European Union summit.

The two leaders said they would meet again in April but gave no indication of any breakthrough in the dispute over the British colony of Gibraltar, which borders Spain.

The row started over fishing rights and led to Madrid tightening border controls.

A spokesman for the British Prime Minister said Mr Blair asked for the controls to be returned to normal quickly but the two men agreed to let their Foreign Ministers tackle the issue. The BBC Europe correspondent says that in a sign of no hard feelings, Mr Blair wished Mr Aznar a happy forty-sixth birthday, and offered him a 1953 bottle of Vega Sicilia red wine.