Ministry of Defence officials are seeking somewhere to dump up to 27 submarine reactors, each the size of two double-decker buses, until at least 2040. The refused to rule out the peninsula as a nuclear graveyard is creating fear and alarm among residents.

In Campbeltown, locals believe the former RAF base at Machrihanish, on the west coast of Kintyre, is high on the MoD's target list.

While a decision is still three years away there are mounting fears among the community that speculation will be enough to destroy investment in the area, cripple tourism and turn the already remote peninsula into a ghost town.

The population of the peninsula has crashed by a fifth following the closure of the Nato base at Machrihanish - which took more than £1.5m from the local economy.

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