A £125million supermess at the heart of Britain’s nuclear deterrent is being dismantled “brick by brick” amid fears of a potential Grenfell fire disaster, the Record can reveal.
Ministry of Defence chiefs launched a probe two years ago amid concerns potentially combustible materials have been used to build the leisure venue at Faslane fight leaves female officer with broken jaw amid 'three-man rammy' naval base.
Now sources have revealed the facility – dubbed a supermess – with a shopping mall, bars, restaurants, a 300-seater cinema and bowling alley, is being pulled apart.
Our pictures show work is well under way.
A whistleblower said: “It is shocking to think these checks weren’t carried out in full before work went ahead. Surely firms must have learned lessons from the Grenfell disaster.
“It is unthinkable to try to imagine what could happen if you had a big blaze at the home of Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
“The whole place looks like it is being taken apart brick by brick.”
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HM Naval Base Clyde – commonly known as Faslane – is the Royal Navy’s main presence in Scotland.
It is home to the core of the Submarine Service, including the UK’s nuclear deterrent, and the new generation of hunter-killer submarines. The base is due to expand, with the workforce increasing to 8200 by 2020.
In December 2017, fire safety experts raised concerns about the venue following checks. At the time, the MoD confirmed it stepped up fire safety patrols at the site and was in discussions with contractors Morgan Sindall to deal with the problem.
It refused to reveal which material had caused alarm but said it was not the same product blamed for causing the 2017 fire in London’s Grenfell flats to spread.
It has been suggested it could cost up to £16.5million to carry out work to make the facility safe. The MoD has insisted that the contractors will pick up the tab.
SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughes is Scotland’s only representative on the Commons Defence Select Committee.
He said: “This is just the latest in an incredible series of events which have raised more concerns about the MoD’s obsession with awarding lucrative procurement contracts to private firms.
"Firms who have proven unequal to the task, jeopardising the health and safety of those serving in our Armed Forces, and leaving the taxpayer out of pocket.
"As a member of the Defence Select Committee, I’ve seen the litany of botched private contracts.
“Whether it be Capita’s disastrous handling of recruitment, which has seen the Army at its lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars, or Carillion’s litany of failures in service accommodation that only ended when the company went bust, the obsession with the private sector quick-fix to procurement continually proves elusive.
“So while I’m disappointed to hear about this latest scandal, I can’t say I am surprised. Making a quick saving for the MoD cannot come at the cost of basic health and safety for our defence personnel and defence ministers, along with main building mandarins need to put an immediate halt to this type of private procurement.”
Faslane fight leaves female officer with broken jaw amid 'three-man rammy'
SNP defence spokesman Stewart McDonald MP said: “At a time when we are dealing with a £15billion black hole at the heart of defence, and the National Audit Office has branded the MoD’s ongoing procurement programme as simply ‘unaffordable’ for the second year, we cannot afford to keep making these mistakes.”
Morgan Sindall Construction said: “We are undertaking remedial works to the supermess to address some building defects. There are no fire safety risks to people on the base. The work is being undertaken at no cost to the MoD.”
An MoD spokesman said: “We take fire safety extremely seriously and have put a series of measures in place to allow the safe use of the supermess.
“Improvement work, which is being carried out by and funded by the contractor, is expected to be completed in 2020.”
