The future of the Trident nuclear submarine base at Faslane is not being threatened ahead of a possible Nationalist breakthrough in the Holyrood elections.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the current naval review of the four main bases around Britain - Faslane, Rosyth in Fife and Portsmouth and Devonport in the south of England - will not mean the removal of the Clyde base.

The Whitehall department was responding to a report yesterday that military planners were considering what to do with the Trident submarine base if an independent Scotland insists on the nuclear deterrent being removed from Scottish waters.

Bases were being considered in England and Wales, it was reported, with Devonport, near Plymouth, believed to be the second-best place to locate the submarines after the Clyde.

But a MoD spokesman said yesterday: "There is no such review ongoing."

That did nothing to dampen Nationalist claims that its anti-Trident campaign was working.

Defence spokesman Angus Robertson said: "Dumping a new generation of weapons of mass destruction in Scotland - at a cost of up to £100bn - is opposed by the vast majority of people, Scottish civic society, the churches, and now a majority of Scottish MPs.

"At the very least, this story indicates that the MoD is having to pay attention to the strength of opposition to Trident in Scotland. It is unpopular, unacceptable and unsustainable."

The same debate was opened up eight years ago, when a review of SNP defence policy raised the question of how quickly an independent Scottish government could get rid of nuclear weapons.

One option considered was whether Scotland might want to lease the Faslane base to Whitehall, at least until an English base could be built, or to use the issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations on other funding issues. However, the strength of feeling on the subject within the SNP was always going to make that unlikely.

The Faslane base has been home to a campaign against nuclear missiles and submarines. Since October, protesters have gathered there to highlight their opposition to them as part of the year-long Faslane 365 campaign.