PLANS of a nuclear submarine found in a donated suitcase at a Porthmadog charity shop have been sold - to a former serviceman who served aboard the submarine.

The cutaway plans of HMS Trafalgar were put up for sale by the Barnado’s shop in Porthmadog after they were found hidden inside a suitcase donated to the charity.

Despite bids coming from as far away as America, the plans have been secured by Mark Rice, a submariner who served for 26 years and spent two years on HMS Trafalgar, after his partner won the auction with a last-minute bid.

Mark’s partner Tara Burke had made several bids for the plans, calling the shop in Porthmadog every day during the five-day auction and winning with a bid of £320.

Mark, who was a warrant officer II electrical engineer on HMS Trafalagar between 2007 and 2009 when the submarine was decommissioned, said he had been shocked by Tara’s present.

He said: “I had read the story about the plans being discovered in a charity shop online and thought it was amazing. I hadn’t said anything to Tara so when she said she had bought them for me I couldn’t believe it.

“I joined the Royal Navy when I was 16 and spent my whole career on submarines, serving on five of the seven Trafalgar Class submarines, so to get this is just amazing. I even went to the decommissioning of this particular vessel.

“I spent a lot of my life away under water in Trafalgar and have a lot of fond memories. Now I just need to get it framed and find a wall big enough to hang it on as it’s six feet long.”

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