Around 30 people took part in the symbolic "die in" outside the main gates of the Royal Navy's Faslane base, which lies on the Firth of Clyde estuary, approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Glasgow.

The protest was organized by the Trident Ploughshares group, which has been campaigning since 1998 for Britain to abandon its nuclear-armed Trident submarines.

The blockade lasted about 15 minutes before police asked the protesters to move. Seven activists who refused to move were arrested for a "breach of the peace," a spokesman for the group said.

A few protesters painted red footprints on the road to commemorate the atomic bombing and were detained by police for vandalism.

The activists carried banners with such slogans as "Hiroshima never again," "no more Hiroshimas" and "one thousand Hiroshimas just around the corner."

Trident Ploughshares activist David Heller, speaking from the group's head office, said, "I hope that anyone who has seen the pictures from Hiroshima or met survivors would be moved, and we have been moved to take action and confront these nuclear weapons."

According to Heller, there were no Japanese activists outside the Trident base in Scotland, although some were present at previous demonstrations.