Lakenheath nuclear weapons 'put Suffolk on the frontline'

The Telegraph has reported that nuclear weaponry three times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb would be located at the Suffolk airbase under the proposals. 

This is due to the increased threat from Russia. 

General secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) Kate Hudson said: “This is a very serious matter.

"We know that US nuclear weapons were actually sited at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk until 2008.

General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, or CND, Kate Hudson (Image: CND)

“They were there some decades and during that time there were a number of accidents and near misses so obviously in the normal running of it there is a danger to the local community.”

The CND claim at least two major incidents involving nuclear weapons are known to have occurred at RAF Lakenheath.

In 1956, a B-47 bomber on a routine training mission crashed into a storage unit containing nuclear weapons, killing four servicemen.

RAF Lakenheath (Image: Archant)

Five years later, an airplane loaded with a nuclear bomb caught fire following a pilot error, according to the group.

Ms Hudson added: “But of course there are also much bigger dangers associated with it as well.

"If you’re putting nuclear weapons at a base and it draws attention of other nuclear weapons states to that base then it means Lakenheath will become a target in any future wars in which Britain or the US finds itself.

“Lakenheath and Suffolk will be on the frontline and it puts Britain as a whole on the frontline too.

“The land might be British but it is staffed and run by the US air force.

“There’s a big danger coming down the road and it’s a danger we have no control over.”

The Pentagon are reportedly planning on keeping nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk

The Telegraph states that a Pentagon document seen by the paper revealed contracts for a new facility at the base.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: "It remains a longstanding UK and Nato policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location."

The reported move comes amid calls from senior figures on both sides of the Atlantic for the country to be prepared in case of a potential war between Nato forces and Russia.

General Sir Patrick Sanders

Last week, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing head of the British Army, said its 74,000-strong ranks need to be bolstered by at least 45,000 reservists and citizens to be better ready for possible conflict.

Downing Street has ruled out any move towards conscription, saying that Army service will remain voluntary.

The CND has previously claimed the MoD and West Suffolk Council have failed to assess the environmental impact of potentially facilitating the weapons at the Suffolk airbase and has called on the MoD to halt development works at RAF Lakenheath while the necessary screening is carried out.

The organisation launched a legal campaign in November to block the planning rights for developing nuclear facilities at the base.

The group previously said it believes that a planned 144-bed dormitory indicated a return of nuclear weapons at the Suffolk airbase and called on West Suffolk Council to intervene. 

Prior to the legal campaign a team from CND gathered outside RAF Lakenheath, which is between the village and Mildenhall, with the aim of searching the base for nuclear weapons.