LONDON: The Royal Navy has said it is looking into the matter after documents marked “official sensitive” were reportedly discovered in a Wetherspoons pub toilet.
The papers contained information about HMS Anson, one of the navy’s most technologically-advanced vessels, the Sun reported. According to the newspaper, the documents were left at the Furness Railway pub in Barrow-in-Furness; however, a source claimed they were discovered on the toilet cubicle floor. They were “generic” papers, according to the navy, and contained no secret information.
The Royal Navy spokesman said in a statement that these are generic training materials and do not include any classified information. We will look into the circumstances surrounding their discovery because we take all security-related issues very seriously. The documents are not seen by the BBC. The BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, not far from the bar where materials were discovered, is where the nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Anson was constructed.
The fifth of the new Astute-class attack submarines to join the Navy fleet is a 97m (318ft) long, 7,800 tonnes, nuclear-powered vessel. The Astute-class attack submarines, according to the Ministry of Defence, are “the largest, most technologically advanced, and “most powerful” attack submarines ever operated by the Navy. Anson is able to do a full circumnavigation without resurfacing. The hunter-killer ship is now docked at His Majesty’s Naval Base in Scotland’s Clyde. According to a person who spoke to the Sun, the documents were found on a “quite lively night” on the floor of a cubicle.
