MULTI-million-pound refit work on a Westcountry warship has been switched from Devonport to Scotland for the first time, sparking concerns among unions and defence experts.

The Royal Navy frigate HMS Campbeltown left her base port in Plymouth last week bound for France and exercises off the Scottish coast. She is currently heading into Rosyth for a 12-month overhaul.

It is believed to be the first time that a refit of any Type 22 frigate has been undertaken outside Devonport since the ships entered service in the 1980s.

Roger Darcy, GMB convener and chairman of the Industrial Trade Unions in the dockyard, said there was "concern" at the loss of work.

"We are now working for a company [Babcock] that is responsible for ship refitting at Rosyth and Devonport," he said. "There has got to be an element of trust now that we get a fair allocation of the work.

"Babcock has allocated the work based on maintaining the skills base at Rosyth because of the carrier work that is going up there."

Mr Darcy said that the unions were "reluctant" to see any work moved from Devonport, particularly as "the sword of Damocles" was still hanging over workers.

He added: "The problem we have still got locally is that we still don't know how many jobs are likely to go."

However, he said the situation "could work to our advantage from next year" with aircraft carrier work due to start at the Scottish yard.

Iain Ballantyne, editor of Warships International Fleet Review, was equally surprised by the move. He said: "It does seem extraordinary bearing in mind the experience that Devonport has in refitting Type 22s since they entered service.

"It is the first one I can remember for years, if at all, that is going to be refitted in a Scottish yard. It does seem amazing that Devonport Management Ltd (DML), before Babcock took over, were extremely worried about the number of surface warship refits to keep key workers on nuclear submarines employed between submarine refits. They were facing an absolute crisis over that.

"The question is why is there no longer a need for surface warship refitting in Plymouth?"

Babcock paid £350 million for DML in July 2007. However, the firm announced plans to axe up to 600 posts – more than 10 per cent of its Plymouth workforce – in February this year, saying the move was in response to a drop in Royal Navy submarine work.

The switch to Rosyth is also likely to prove unpopular with HMS Campbeltown's crew, many of whom live in Devon and Cornwall. A skeleton crew will have to be maintained during the refit, forcing many to spend long periods away from home.

A spokesman for Babcock Marine said the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean was currently in refit, while two others were in the pipeline.

He added: "HMS Campbeltown's refit at Babcock Marine in Rosyth is part of an ongoing programme of warship upkeep periods, agreed through the Ministry of Defence's Surface Ship Support arrangement which aims to provide industry with levels of work which sustain future capability to meet MoD support requirements.

"Babcock Marine at Devonport is currently completing the refit of HMS Ocean, which will be followed by the refit of HMS Albion in October 2008 and HMS Westminster in March 2009."