A Falklands war hero has criticised the decision to scrap the Royal Navy’s flagship.

Captain Philip Roberts DSO, who was decorated for his gallantry during the attack on his ship, Sir Galahad, during the 1982 conflict, said plans to scrap the aircraft carrier, Ark Royal, were “hasty”.

The government announced the scrapping of the iconic vessel on Tuesday before a Parliamentary debate on the first strategic defence review for 12 years.

“It does seem a rather hasty decision to my mind. One never knows what’s round the corner. To scrap one of our fine capital ships without replacement or contingency seems rash,” said Cpt Roberts, who lives in Bournemouth.

The Royal Navy’s surface fleet will be trimmed from 24 ships to 19, and while plans to build two new aircraft carriers will go ahead, they will not be available until 2019 at the earliest.

Harrier aircraft will be retired – a decision that yesterday drew a stinging attack from another Falklands hero, pilot Commander Nigel “Sharkey” Ward.

Cpt Roberts said that while he was not an expert on carrier-borne aircraft, he thought the Harrier was “getting pretty ancient”, but stressed that it should be replaced. “It’s playing the game of the money available against what you’re trying to defend. In most cases, the defence review can’t possibly foresee what will happen – they can only surmise.

“Anything that reduces our armed forces is putting us at some risk,” he said.

Meanwhile, the long-term future of Blandford Camp remains uncertain despite yesterday’s announcement that plans to build a multi-billion pound defence training college in South Wales had been suspended.

The camp is home to the Royal School of Signals and provides a livelihood for some 5,000 people in North Dorset.

Garrison Staff Officer Lt Col (rtd) Bob Brannigan said technical training would continue at existing locations for up to five years in line with the original Defence Training Review time scale.