Soviet sub finds river berth

Businessmen who proposed to moor their former Russian submarine near HMS Belfast have decided to accept Greenwich council's offer of a site near the Thames Barrier.

Russian Submarine UK , which has leased the 92-metre long Foxtrot-class sub from the Russian government, was this week given planning consent to moor it at the Barrier in Charlton.

Director Ben Wrede said: 'We are very pleased this has been approved. We will open it to the public very soon.

He added that work was well under way to prepare the vessel for public tours. But his firm still hopes to win approval to moor the submarine alongside William Curtis Park, near Tower Bridge, a site they believe has greater tourist potential.

However, officials at the Port of London Authority and the Tower of London

have objected to the idea - soon to be debated by the London Docklands Development Corporation and Southwark council.

The 1,950-tonne Foxtrot was the Soviet Navy's biggest conventional submarine. It was built in 1967 at the Sudomekh shipyard in Leningrad and formed part of the Baltic Fleet.

It carried 22 torpedoes, two of which carried nuclear warheads, but all armaments were removed when it was decommissioned.

The company has agreed to give Greenwich schoolchildren free tours.