Faslane has supported a naval base since the First World War and during the Second World War was the location of an emergency military port, built in case main harbours in other parts of Britain were destroyed by enemy action.

This developed into a naval base which was converted to nuclear capability between 1963 and 1968 and became the home of Britain's nuclear deterrent in the shape of the Polaris submarine.

It consisted of two centres, Faslane on the Gare Loch and the Royal Navy Armaments Depot at Coulport on Loch Long.

It was not until the arrival of Trident in the early 1980s that prolonged protests began. Four submarines - Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance - were built to carry the missiles.

The original Faslane Peace Camp was set up by Margaret and Bobby Harrison in 1982 to demonstrate against the government's decision to base the country's Trident nuclear submarine fleet there.

The peace camp was the subject of legal eviction bids in the mid-1990s.

Those taken into police custody since the first nuclear submarines arrived include churchmen, Buddhist monks, politicians and an eight-week-old baby.

High-profile arrests have included, in February 2001, MP George Galloway and later that year, then SSP leader Tommy Sheridan who was arrested and served seven days in jail for his part in a Big Blockade demo.