Navy

Life in Faslane: 50 years of nuclear submarines on the Clyde

For 50 years, Faslane has been one of the most controversial sites in Britain - home to the UK's nuclear weapons system.

At the height of the Cold War in the early 1960s, Britain decided it needed its own response to the threat of Soviet nuclear attack.

After considering land-based and air-based missiles, the British government eventually committed to the American-made Polaris system, carried by submarines which could avoid detection beneath the waves.

Faslane, a sheltered sea loch that opens into the River Clyde, less than 30 miles from Glasgow, was chosen as the base and for almost half a century there has been a British submarine armed with nuclear missiles somewhere at sea, ready to respond.

From the very beginning, the presence of the nuclear weapons on Scotland's west coast has attracted protesters.

Detractors claim the missiles would never be used - and if they were it would lead to nuclear annihilation.