The Taliban claims Sangin is under its control
but relatives of UK troops killed in Afghanistan say there should be no return.
Afghan commanders have called for NATO back up after the Taliban claimed to have taken control of the strategic town of Sangin.
The Afghan government has sent reinforcements to the district to help besieged forces but the defence minister called for international support and air cover.
A spokesman for the Taliban said on Twitter "Sangin district has completely collapsed to the Taliban" but the government has denied the claim.
The loss of Sangin would be a significant blow for the government in Kabul because it is central to the opium trade and was a stranglehold for the insurgents.
It saw the heaviest British losses as more than 100 troops were killed in the decade-long battle to secure the Helmand province district.
The deputy governor of Helmand said all lines of communication with the town had been cut and there was no information as to what was happening inside.
Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai said: "The Helmand battle is not easy because the province has a long border, is a core of opium production, and our enemies are well-equipped and deeply involved in the smuggling of drugs.
"These factors complicate the battle for Sangin."
The Taliban surge in Sangin has seen British troops pulled back into the conflict more than a year after the last of the armed forces left the country.
A small British force has been sent to Helmand to act as advisers to the Afghan forces but the Ministry of Defence has insisted they will not take part in combat operations.
Families who lost loved ones in the Afghanistan conflict have said nothing can justify sending British troops back in.
Ian Wright, whose son Gary was killed when his vehicle was caught in a suicide blast in Lashkar Gah in 2006, said: "I am totally opposed to troops back on the ground in Afghanistan, whatever roles they are carrying out.
"It's been done too many times in the past and it's clear it hasn't worked.”
But former foreign secretary David Miliband said Britain should do more to help restore stability to the country.
He told the Radio 4 Today programme: "Given the level of sacrifice but also the importance strategically of Afghanistan as an entry point into central Asia, as a potential expansion ground for Isis and others - I think it is important for Britain to be part of the overall strategy to stabilise the country. Above all that needs to be a political strategy."
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