Activists travel hundreds of miles to protest nuclear bombs returning to RAF base near Cambs

Activists held a protest at RAF Lakenheath not far from Cambridgeshire this weekend against the return of US nuclear bombs to Britain. People arrived from across the country armed with placards and signs to join the protest at the RAF base, which has been used by the US Air Force since just after Second World War.

The demonstration took place on Saturday, May 21 following reports that the underground nuclear storage bunkers at the airbase outside Brandon, Suffolk are to be included in a multi-million dollar upgrade programme by the US Department of Defense. It's understood that the US Department of Defense is planning to reinstate Lakenheath's nuclear status with a huge investment scheme.

However, the potential return of nuclear weapons to Suffolk was not favoured by many and so the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) organised the national demonstration outside the base on Saturday afternoon. During the protest, it held a rally with speakers and live entertainment too.

Protesters travelled from across the country, including as far as Manchester, to take part in the rally. Peace activists from Europe, who organise against the same type of US nuclear bombs being hosted in their own countries, also travelled to the site.

The RAF base is one of a few bases in the UK with underground bunkers designed to store nuclear weapons. Previously nuclear bombs were stored at the base throughout the Cold War and were only removed in 2008 due to "sustained protest".

Take a look at our picture gallery below from the protest at RAF Lakenheath on Saturday, May 21, 2022.