Hans Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, posted the claim in a blog on his website, on Friday.

He said 110 nuclear weapons, said to have been stored at the airbase since 1954, had been removed on the order of the US government. The move could have happened within the last three years, he added.

Although the withdrawal of any weapons has not been officially confirmed, Mr Kristensen claimed news of their removal had been backed up by 'several sources'.

If correct, then their removal from the UK would reduce the US nuclear arsenal in Europe to about 240 weapons, following similar withdrawals from Ramstein Air Base in Germany in 2005 and Greece in 2001, added the scientist.

A spokesman for RAF Lakenheath said: "As a matter of policy, the United States does not confirm or deny the presence of nuclear weapons at particular locations."

Base officials have, however, denied rumours that any removal of weapons from the RAF Lakenheath, would lead to the withdrawal of the US Air Force from the area.

They said it was 'business as usual' at the base, which is worth more than £400 million a year to the local economy.

News that nuclear weapons may have left Lakenheath was greeted by cheers from campaigners who for years have staged protests outside its gates demanding their removal.

Mell Harrison, co-ordinator for the eastern region branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said: "It is fantastic news if the nuclear weapons have been taken out of Lakenheath.

"We have been campaigning for this for a long time. But we will still be keeping a close eye on the base."

Ms Harrison added that CND still had concerns about possible cluster bombs and missile interceptors being stored at RAF Lakenheath.


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