To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any Royal Navy submarines or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation submarines were on patrol off the Aberdeenshire coast on 4 October.

I assume that the hon. Lady is referring to an incident on 4 October involving the fishing vessel Moray Adventurer. No United Kingdom or NATO submarines were in the vicinity at the time of the incident.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are taken by his Department to advise coastguards, fishermen and harbour-masters of patrols by Royal Navy or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation submarines in fishing waters off the coast of Scotland; and if he will make a statement on the efficiency of such communications.

For security reasons details of individual submarine movements are not disclosed. The more usual areas in which submarines exercise in United Kingdom waters are, however, clearly marked on Admiralty charts.