THE chancellor of Southampton Solent University, the former head of the Navy, has called for a nuclear sub to be sent to the Falklands in a show of force.

Lord West, a decorated veteran of the 1982 war over the Falklands, said it would act as a “good deterrent” in response to a fresh dispute with Argentina over the sovereignty of the islands.

The former First Sea Lord said Britain should hold military manoeuvres in response to an “aggressive” decision by South American countries to ban ships from the islands docking in their ports.

The Mercosur trading bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, agreed to close its ports to the 25 ships flying the Falkland Islands flag as Argentina ramps up diplomatic pressure to win back sovereignty of the islands, known as the Las Malvinas.

The shipping dispute involves a vast area of potentially mineral-rich South Atlantic waters and has created a fresh diplomatic headache for Britain, which controls the islands.

It has held them since the 1830s and insists their future is not negotiable.