LUCINDA CAMERON and SAM REEVES

Four Japanese protesters were arrested yesterday as they blockaded a Trident nuclear base in protest at plans to renew the weapon system.

The men, two of whom are atom bomb survivors, linked themselves together with bamboo sticks and sat in the road in front of Faslane base, near Helensburgh.

A local woman who joined the protest was also arrested, police said. The Japanese protesters are part of a 12-strong group from Nagasaki, where more than 70,000 people died after an atomic bomb was dropped on the city at the end of the Second World War. They held a ceremony at the gates of the base, where they sprinkled water brought from the Peace Park in Nagasaki bomb's ground zero, and left origami cranes and other symbols of life and peace.

Five Japanese women also staged a sit-down protest in the road, but were not arrested. The group hopes that the visit will remind politicians in Scotland and the rest of the UK about the dangers they see in renewing Trident.

Shinya Moriguchi, 30, whose father survived the Nagasaki bomb, said: "My relatives survived the bomb and against this background I cannot be indifferent to nuclear weapons. The UK stands at the crossroads of which way to go and I felt we should not miss this good opportunity to persuade the UK to go down the route of nuclear disarmament."

Moboru Tasaki, 63, who was one-year-old when the A-bomb hit, said: "Our people know and experienced nuclear weapons and we know they are terrible for all humanity.

"We hope that the UK government will change its decision and will go for disarmament of nuclear weapons.

"I hope that today's demonstration will contribute to nuclear disarmament."

There were also several professors, scientists and teachers among the delegation. They took part in yesterday's protest as part of Faslane 365, a year-long peaceful blockade of the base which started last October. A Faslane 365 spokesman said: "This has been very powerful and special because of the number of bomb survivors here.

"It is part of a bigger effort to disrupt this horrible place and pressurise for change and it is a necessary part of a very necessary change."

Strathclyde Police said that the five people arrested will be reported to the procurator fiscal. Today the delegation will visit cherry trees planted as symbols of peace in Helensburgh.