An explosion in the Yemeni capital Sanaa targeted a vehicle carrying the deputy chief of the British mission in Yemen.
"There was an attempt against a vehicle belonging to British employees at the British embassy, with only one shock injury caused," according to a security source.
The British Foreign Office in London confirmed there had been an attack involving a British embassy vehicle in Sanaa, but said there had been no casualties.
A suspected al-Qaeda suicide bomber attacked the British ambassador's convoy in April, killing himself and injuring three others.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it was behind that attack, accusing the British envoy of leading a war on Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula on Britain's behalf.
In a separate incident today, a security guard opened fire inside the compound of Austrian oil and gas group OMV, killing its French manager. Government security forces subsequently disarmed the gunman.
Oil-exporter Yemen is beset by problems. It faces rising al-Qaeda militancy and a surge in violence in its secessionist leaning south.
Yemen also has a shaky truce with northern Shia rebels, reached in February to end a civil war that has rage on and off since 2004 and drew in neighbouring Saudi Arabia last year after rebels seized some Saudi land.
More than 40 per cent of its 23 million people live on under $2 a day, and concerns about instability and widespread corruption have hampered growth and made unemployment worse.
Agencies