ANGER erupted last night when it was revealed that the RAF has used one of Britain's most dangerous roads for a military convoy carrying nuclear weapons.

Up to six 100-kiloton warheads are believed to have been ferried along the notorious A66 Scotch Corner to Penrith road in an operation tracked by the campaign group Nukewatch UK.

Three huge seven-axled, 44-tonne vehicles, accompanied by Royal Marines and a police escort, travelled up from the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Burghfield, Berkshire, last week.

From there they made their ponderous way to the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Coulport in Scotland.

The Nukewatch campaigners followed the convoy on its return journey along the A66 and then down the A1 for an overnight stop at RAF Leeming, before travelling on to RAF Wittering.

It is thought the convoy was carrying warheads for Trident missiles from Burghfield, where they are assembled, to Coulport, where they are stored before being deployed on submarines.

Among the campaigners following the convoy was Andrew Gray, from Newcastle.

"Anyone from North Yorkshire or the North-East knows how dangerous the A66 is," he said.

"The thought that lorries are carrying a deadly mix of plutonium, tritium and explosive along that road is truly frightening."

In the last ten years more than 70 people have been killed in accidents on the road, which is the subject of a Fix the A66 campaign, spearheaded by The Northern Echo.

CND campaigners claimed the Ministry of Defence was adding to an already severe risk by taking their vehicles along the A66.

"They have used the A1 often for such convoys and they usually go via a base near Newcastle," said spokesman Rachel Julian.

"We don't know why they changed their route, but one possibility is that foot-and-mouth epidemic meant they had to alter it."

Although the cargo on the lead-lined vehicles cannot explode, campaigners fear that an accident could lead to a radiation leak, which could have devastating consequences over a wide area.

"These vehicles are not marked to say they are carrying nuclear material and other road users would not know of the risk they represent," said Mr Julian.

Last night, the Ministry of Defence in London refused to comment on the convoy's route or its load. "We never comment about the movements of nuclear convoys and there are obvious security reasons for that," said a spokesman.

"But nuclear safety is the MoD's number one priority. When we move nuclear material around, we ensure that we do it safely and responsibly."

One of the leading lights in The Northern Echo's A66 campaign, North Yorkshire county councillor Michael Heseltine, was deeply concerned at the news last night.

"It emphasises yet again the urgent and imperative need to have the road upgraded to dual carriageway from end to end for the standard of safety to be improved," said Mr Heseltine.

"With the intermittent stretches of dual carriageway, the substandard junctions, and the horrendous accident statistics, one would have thought that this sort of freight would not be taken along such a road."

Mr Heseltine said it was the first time he had heard of the A66 being used to carry nuclear weapons. "If it is, it makes the job of upgrading the road even more urgent," he said.

"It is not only the traffic which is at risk, but also the properties which are immediately alongside the A66."