Sailor, 36, is accused of stealing secrets from a Royal Navy nuclear submarine ‘after papers were found on his mobile phone’

A sailor is under investigation for allegedly stealing secrets from a Royal Navy nuclear submarine.

Able Seaman Marcus Gauntlett was held by the military police on suspicion of breaking the Official Secrets Act.

The 36-year-old was serving as a steward on a Vanguard class submarine, which is armed and provides the UK’s nuclear deterrent and is armed with Trident 2 D5 missiles.

Police at the sub base HMNB Clyde, at Faslane in Scotland claim to have found papers on classified submarine movements.

Nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard arrives at HM Naval Base Clyde, Faslane, Scotland

Officers seized his mobile phone as part of a separate investigation, according to The Sun.

Sailors aren’t allowed to bring their phones with them on submarines.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm that a member of the Armed Forces is under investigation.’

In March, a group of Royal Navy sailors were arrested on suspicion of stealing laptops and iPads from a duty free shop on an American base in Bahrain.

The sailors were suspected of using security alarm proof bags to snag the items from the Main Navy Exchange store, The Sun reported.

Military police at the nuclear sub base HMNB Clyde, at Faslane, Scotland, (pictured) allegedly found secret papers on Marcus Gauntlett’s Huawei mobile phone.

The Able Seaman was serving as as steward on a nuclear-armed Vanguard-class submarine

The group of around seven servicemen then allegedly sold the stolen goods to others at half the retail price.

Some of the sailors were arrested by ‘American armed military police’ in January, a source claimed.

Others were reportedly marched off of the HMS Middleton in handcuffs following a joint investigation by the UK and US.

A Royal Navy spokesperson told MailOnline at the time it is aware of the alleged incident, which is currently ‘under investigation’.

In 2012, a nuclear submariner was locked up for eight years for trying to sell secrets to Russian spies – who were actually MI5 agents in disguise.