DOUGLAS Chapman MP is unconcerned about a delay in the launch of the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. 

Assembled in Rosyth as part of a £6 billion programme to deliver the two largest ever warships for the Royal Navy, the 65,000 tonne vessel is due to begin sea trials next month. 

However, the Ministry of Defence told the defence select committee that the carrier, completed in the summer of 2014, had experienced a series of technical issues.

They refused to give a date for the ship's launch but Mr Chapman, the Dunfermline and West Fife MP and a member of the committee, said: “It is inevitable in a project of this size, and with the first ship in the class, that there will be technical issues prior to the commencement of testing. 

"I’m satisfied that the skills and work ethic of those at Rosyth will ensure that these issues are ironed out, and that we will see the Queen Elizabeth leave Rosyth to begin trials as planned.”

Earlier this month the MoD insisted it was "fully committed to operating" both of the carriers amid speculation over their future.

The statement came after reports that one of the ships could be mothballed to help address a £500 million budget shortfall.