A HUGE section of the last Astute submarine was guided through the streets of Barrow.

It was the final piece of what will form the HMS Agincourt and was taken through the town to BAE via Michaelson Road and Bridge Road.

The submarine will be constructed at the assembly facility at Devonshire Dock Hall.

It is the seventh and final Astute class submarine to be built.

The first three submarines in the class – HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful – are already in service with the Royal Navy.

The fourth, fifth and sixth are in various stages of construction.

Agincourt is one of seven 7,400 tonne, 97 metre-long attack submarines being designed and built by BAE Systems for the Royal Navy.

It is due to leave BAE Systems’ submarine site in Barrow in the mid-2020s.

The first of the Astute class was launched by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007.

At the time it was the largest and most advanced nuclear submarine built for the Royal Navy.

It was commissioned in 2010 and declared fully operational in May 2014.

The Astute class replaces the Trafalgar-class fleet submarines in Royal Navy service.

BAE is also working on the Dreadnought class of submarines.

The Dreadnought programme replaces the four Vanguard class submarines which have provided a continued at sea deterrent since 1992 with four new cutting-edge vessels.

The first vessel was named HMS Dreadnought while the second is to be called HMS Valiant and the third HMS Warspite.

The last Royal Navy vessel to carry the name Warspite was the UK’s third nuclear submarine which operated for over 20 years at the height of the Cold War.

Work began on HMS Dreadnought in 2016 and it is expected to be operational in the early 2030s.

The scheme will cost £31 billion overall.