Last year we followed the story that that women might be allowed to serve aboard RN submarines for the first time. The Sunday Mirror now reports that:

Military bosses are ­planning to lift the ban on women serving on Royal Navy submarines.

The move is revealed in a leaked letter which comes after concerns over health risks were dismissed.

The memo – sent to Navy bosses by the office of the Fleet’s deputy chief of staff – says: “The Navy Board is wholeheartedly committed to the principle of giving women the same opportunity as men.

“The Royal Navy must be able to draw on the widest pool of talent available if it is to maintain its competitive operational ­advantage.”

Women – who make up 3,400 of the Navy’s 36,000 personnel – have served on surface warships since 1990.

But the final hurdle to allowing female ­submariners has been concerns that the bodies of women – ­especially those who are pregnant – could be ­affected by the reactors on subs, which are now all nuclear-powered. But a study by the Institute of Naval Medicine has now ­concluded there is no risk.

A Navy source said: “This letter clearly shows they are planning to get rid of this ban, maybe as early as next year.”

The US navy lifted its ban two years ago after a similar review of health fears.

• Sunday Mirror 10.07.2011, by Mike Hamilton - Royal Navy prepares to let women serve on submarines for the first time