A new BBC Panorama documentary is set to look into the ongoing saga around nuclear weapons potentially being stored at RAF Lakenheath. 

Fears have been mounting that the north Suffolk airbase is set to host nuclear weapons for the first time in 16 years. 

The first US nuclear bombs arrived on British soil in September 1954, and several sources confirmed the withdrawal of the weapons from Lakenheath in 2008.

Panorama’s senior foreign affairs correspondent Jane Corbin will speak to campaigners in Suffolk in the documentary that is set to air on BBC Two on Thursday, January 18. 

In November a legal campaign was launched after protestors feared the US Air Force is planning on using the base, which is the largest US-operated base in England, to store the weapons.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has questioned planned development works at the American airbase. 

East Anglian Daily Times: A CND protest being held in WoodbridgeA CND protest being held in Woodbridge (Image: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament)

The group believes that a planned 144-bed dormitory could lead to the return of nuclear weapons at the Suffolk airbase and has called on West Suffolk Council to intervene. 

A spokesman for West Suffolk Council said: "We have received a letter from CND and are considering our response.”

The CND is calling on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to halt any developments at the base until necessary screening is carried out. 

The MoD has a policy of not confirming the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location.

Speaking previously, Kate Hudson of the CND said: “USAF has ploughed ahead with construction at the airbase by purportedly relying on planning rights that assume that the development won’t have significant environmental effects.

"But in doing that they’ve completely ignored the risks that stationing nuclear weapons would entail and therefore might arguably be operating unlawfully in breach of planning control.”

RAF Lakenheath has been controlled by the US Air Force since 1948 and is home to its 48th Fighter Wing, consisting of more than 4,000 military personnel and 1,500 civilians.