A CAMPAIGN group have called for an immediate end to the practice of transporting nuclear warheads by lorry along motorways and roads in Cumbria and elsewhere. 

Cumbria and Lancashire Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) have asked as to whether or not 'this a disaster waiting to happen on our roads?’. 

Their renewed call comes in response to news that the Ministry of Defence has admitted that 40 safety incidents involving convoys transporting nuclear warheads were logged during 2019, 2020 and 2021, following a freedom of information request.

Local CND spokesperson, Philip Gilligan said, “The information released by the MOD shows us that, in just three years, convoy vehicles have crashed twice and got caught up in other road accidents five times. They have suffered multiple brake faults, breakdowns and power losses.

"The convoy has also caused the closure of roads or motorway lanes 11 times and been delayed by lorry fires, a spillage and two outbreaks of Covid.

"In one case it had to deal with an 'erratic driver interfering with the convoy' and in another it closed a road after a driver caught using a mobile phone tried to run away.

"Such safety lapses should cause us all very great concern. A small incident could easily escalate into something more serious. The risks being taken by the Ministry of Defence cannot be justified and we need to ask whether this is a disaster waiting to happen on our roads?

"MOD convoys transport nuclear warheads between the Burghfield nuclear weapons factory in Berkshire and the Royal Navy’s armaments depot at Coulport on Loch Long in Argyll and Bute at least six times a year.

"They frequently use the M6 in Lancashire and Cumbria and were twice filmed driving through residential areas in Preston in 2022. It is time to get these dangerous convoys off our roads," he said. 

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "Defence nuclear materials are transported only when necessary, and the safety and security of the public are the highest priority.

"All convoy operations follow strict and safe procedures, and in over 50 years of transporting nuclear material by road in the UK, there has never been an incident that has posed any radiation hazard to the public or the environment.”

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