The Ministry of Defence has apologised for any concern caused by the noise of weapons training conducted early this morning by the 1st Battalion Scots Guards in the area known as the Jungle. Residents of Moorish Castle Estate and Laguna Estate took to social media to complain after being woken by gunfire.

An MoD spokesperson said: “In the early hours of this morning, the 1st Battalion Scots Guards conducted weapons training in the Northern Defences. The authorisation for training on public land had been approved by the Government of Gibraltar.

“While this training posed no safety risk to the public, notification of this planned activity was not issued more widely, as is usual practice. We apologise for any concern this may have caused and assure the public that internal processes are being reviewed to avoid this occurring in future.”

Although most military training takes place within the tunnels,  Northern Defences provide further useful complexity and are often used by visiting troops and training in night conditions is a routine and required part of Army infantry training.

The MoD says that, in 2021, it had approximately 2,000 visiting troops on the Rock conducting military training exercises due to the fantastic training facilities provided by Gibraltar and that it remains “very grateful” to Gibraltar for the use of public land for training especially in the tunnels which cannot be replicated elsewhere.