A ROSYTH Dockyard boss has insisted there are no plans to relocate from Scotland if the country votes for independence.

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer John Howie waded into the row and said the West Fife site is a “core part” of Babcock’s business strategy.

His comments come after chief executive David Lockwood reportedly said that the company may be forced to relocate if it was not welcome in an independent Scotland.

He made his comments after Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the Rosyth yard last week to view progress in building the first new Type 31 frigate for the Royal Navy.

During a session of the Scottish Affairs Committee on Monday, SNP MP Deidre Brock asked Mr Howie if he could point to an example of when the SNP had said the firm wouldn’t be welcome in Scotland.

He responded that “nobody has told us we wouldn’t be welcome” and added: “We have recently invested £76 million in the site at Rosyth – that is a core part of our business strategy.

“I think what the chief executive was trying to do was deal with...there’s always competing pieces between shareholders who worry about what constitutional changes mean for business continuity.

“And the reality is that our business can operate from wherever it needs to, but we’re not expecting...we wouldn’t have invested that money in the site at Rosyth if we were expecting to make changes to it.”

Mr Lockwood was reported as saying: "I don’t think there is anything that we can’t manage as a company.

“When you look at the timelines, there’s nothing we can’t manage as a company.

“If we had to replicate this in England because we were told we weren’t welcome here – which I think would be a bad mistake for Scotland – but if that were the decision, we can replicate this in three years, and the time window of negotiations is longer than that.

“It’s not ideal but it is manageable.”

The Rosyth yard is currently host to a £1.25 billion 31 frigates contract, which saw 500 new workers hired in December.

Five new ships are being built for the Royal Navy and the search for new workers coincided with the opening of their new £31.5m shipbuilding assembly hall, the Venturer Building.