Trident whistle-blower William McNeilly to hand himself in to police 'within hours'

Whistle-blower initially said he would be handing himself over to authorities on return 'in a few days'

The whistle-blower who went missing after saying Britain's Trident nuclear programme was a "disaster waiting to happen" has said he will hand himself over to the police.

William McNeilly went absent without leave last week after producing a damning 18-page report containing a series of allegations and criticisms of the Trident submarines.

Mr McNeilly, who was being sought by the Royal Navy and police, said he is not hiding from arrest, initially claiming he would return in a few days.

"Prison - such a nice reward for sacrificing everything to warn the public and government.

"Unfortunately that's the world we live in. I know it's a lot to sacrifice and it is a hard road to walk down, but other people need to start coming forward."

An official investigation has been launched following Mr McNeilly’s disclosure and the Royal Navy said the Trident submarine fleet operated "under the most stringent safety regime."

In his report, in which he said he is an Engineering Technician Submariner who was on patrol with the Trident submarine HMS Victorious this year, Mr McNeilly alleged 30 safety and security flaws on the submarines.

He claimed there are fire risks and leaks on board and that security checks are rarely carried out on personnel and contractors working on the submarines when they are docked.

Mr McNeilly also alleged that alarms had been muted because they went off so often, missile safety procedures had been ignored and top secret information was left unguarded.

He said he raised concerns with senior officers but decided to publish his claims as they were ignored.

The Navy said many of the claims are "subjective and unsubstantiated personal views, made by a very junior sailor, with which the naval service completely disagrees."

A spokeswoman said: "The Royal Navy takes security and nuclear safety extremely seriously and we are fully investigating both the issue of the unauthorised release of this document and its contents.

"The naval service operates its submarine fleet under the most stringent safety regime and submarines do not go to sea unless they are completely safe to do so."