The Government has U-turned on plans to move Royal Marines based in Scotland to the South West.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond will announce today 45 Commando is to remain in Arbroath rather than being based alongside the remaining Marines that are all already stationed in Devon and Somerset.
The move effectively shelves plans for a Marines "superbase" in the South West, potentially at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint Cornwall, as all three Marine commando units would have been based in the region.
In 2011, then Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced 45 Commando would be transferred to the South West within five years - meaning about 1,000 Royal Marines would have relocated to the Westcountry from Scotland.
At present, 40 Commando is in Taunton and 42 Commando in Plymouth. There are also barracks at Chivenor near Braunton in North Devon and Lympstone, close to Exeter.
Mr Hammond will also announce today around 11,000 British troops based in Germany will return home by 2016.
Under the speeded-up withdrawal, the remaining 4,500 troops will be back in the UK by 2019, a year earlier than planned.
Forces will be relocated across the UK but are mainly expected to be stationed in Salisbury Plain, Edinburgh and Leuchars, Catterick, Aldershot, Colchester, Stafford and the East Midlands.
Full story in tomorrow's Western Morning News
