FAMILIES of the five lost crew members of the Breton trawler Bugaled Breizh believe the Cornish inquest into their deaths will take them a step further towards identifying a rogue nuclear submarine they maintain sank the boat in January 2004.

They pledged to demand the truth about the Bugaled mystery from "those whose who have withheld the truth".

Speaking in Brittany at the weekend, they said they would attend the inquest in the company of a fisherman's leader from the Bugaled's home port of Le Guilvinec who has spearheaded an unrelenting campaign for justice.

Rémy Goasguen, brother of one of the crew, said: "In France, judges have ruled that the Bugaled was sunk by a submarine. The official verdict is that the Bugaled's trawl cables were snagged by a nuclear attack submarine.

"She was dragged down and sunk in less than a minute. We are 100 per cent sure that the Royal Navy knows which submarine it was. We want to travel to the UK and give evidence and hear answers to vital questions which have never been properly answered.

"Why, oh why can't they tell us the truth about what happened? Why do they live when innocent lives are lost?"

His wife Nathalie, who has co-ordinated a five-year campaign for justice, told the Western Morning News: "We have to go to England and look these people in the eyes in front of a coroner and ask them for the truth. They say nobody knew anything about the accident.

"There was a Dutch submarine in the immediate area off The Lizard. The skipper said he heard nothing. When the Bugaled went down her bows imploded. The noise would have been enormous. How could he have heard nothing? It's ridiculous.

"Just after the collision, a mystery grey helicopter appeared out of nowhere and dropped a liferaft. Then a Royal Navy diver was dropped into the sea and slashed the raft with a knife to sink it.

"Will that diver be called at the inquest to explain why he did that?"

She also demanded that the inquest answer questions about a "mysterious breakdown" at Cap Gris Nez coastguard station at the time of the incident which resulted in no conversations being recorded.

Robert Bougueon, president of fishermen at Le Guilvinec and formerly a trawlerman for 17 years, said he would attend the inquest and give evidence with the aid of an interpreter.

"There are many, many unanswered questions. In France, investigations take place behind closed doors. What is positive about the inquest is that it will take place in the open and journalists and interested parties will be able to hear the evidence," he said.

Cdr Gerry Northwood, formerly captain of the destroyer HMS Liverpool, which took part in Nato exercises the day after the tragedy, and now attached to the MoD press office in London, told the WMN: "We have co-operated with the French in the past and we will continue to do so. We would give evidence at the inquest if we were asked to do so.

"If it was a submarine, it was not one of ours. Who know what other subs from various nations were in that area?"