Damage caused by a blaze on board a nuclear-powered submarine at Devonport Naval Base was being assessed yesterday.

Firefighters were called to deal with the small fire on the Trafalgar-class submarine, HMS Talent, on Sunday evening. The sub's crew were reported to have put out the fire, which happened at around 8.15pm.

A Royal Navy spokeswoman said the fire service was called as a "routine precaution" and no one had been injured.

She added: "There was a call to the fire rescue services as there had been a small fire on board one of our submarines. The fire was quickly extinguished by the crew and nobody was hurt."

HMS Talent has been at Devonport for 15 months for a deep maintenance programme. It is understood the boat was due to sail within the next week.

The Royal Navy refused to say exactly where the fire had started for security reasons although it is not believed to have involved the nuclear reactor.

The spokesman said: "The extent and implications of any fire damage to HMS Talent are still being investigated. Any future movements of the submarine will still go ahead."