Naval base unions have fought moves to privatise warship engineering and support services that will result in the loss of 1,000 jobs among the 3,000 to be privatised.

Describing the announcement as a bitter blow for staff working at the Devonport, Portsmonth, Faslane and Coulport dockyards, David Luxton, Prospect negotiator, said: "The decision to privatise will result in the fragmentation of vital support services to the Royal Navy fleet and MOD will lose the flexibility to respond rapidly to a crisis."

Alan Grey, branch secretary of Prospect’s MOD Navy Scotland Branch, added: "As well as reducing MOD’s flexibility from a national perspective, locally the unions believe the proposals for each naval base are impractical.

"At each base MOD is taking an effective organisation and splitting it in the name of partnering to create two separate organisations that will be less effective. Ultimately, the navy will pay the price with a poor service in peace time and greatly reduced back up in times of war."

The union has described the move as yet another blow to staff morale at a time when both military and civilian personnel in MOD are being stretched to their limits by the UK’s increasing involvement in worldwide operations.

Members are doubly disappointed because of the considerable effort the unions have put in to developing a constructive in-house alternative, that will deliver better value-for-money than the commercial dockyard company bids.

"There is not a level playing field in comparing public sector to private sector solutions," said Luxton, adding: "Ministers have said that TUPE regulations will protect transferred staff but frankly our members feel it will give as much protection as a chocolate fire-guard."