The former head of the British Army has warned that Scottish independence could have disastrous consequences for the defence of the rest of the UK.

General Sir Michael Jackson said he was alarmed by the SNP’s plan to remove Trident nuclear missiles from Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde.

Jackson, the former Chief of the General Staff, said no alternative sites were available to house and fit the weapons, which are armed with nuclear warheads at Coulport in Argyllshire. All four of Britain’s Trident-equipped submarines are based at nearby Faslane.

Asked about the prospect of independence in an interview with The Sunday Times, he said: “God forbid. It would be very serious for the United Kingdom because it would be the disunited kingdom. I’m pro maintaining the nuclear deterrent. If an independent Scotland were to say, ‘You must take away the nuclear base at Gairlochhead, Faslane,’ then no doubt we would have to re-site those facilities. It couldn’t be done overnight, that’s for sure. Coulport would have to be replicated.”

Last year Alex Salmond signalled his intention to challenge Westminster’s control of UK defence policy by seeking to ban the transportation of nuclear weapons on Scottish soil.

He has also raised the possibility of introducing legislation in the Scottish parliament to prevent the £25 billion replacement for the Trident nuclear missile programme being sited north of the border.

Jackson also said an independent Scotland would not be able to protect itself from its enemies without help from the rest of the UK.

“It seems to me it would be logical for an independent Scotland to come to bilateral defence arrangements with what’s left of the United Kingdom,” he said.

“Scotland would have to ask to maintain, it seems to me, its current access.”

Jackson, 64, joined the army at 19, rising to command the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment from 1984 to 1986. He went on to command the United Nations peacekeeping force in Bosnia from 1995 to 1996.

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