AT LEAST 40 members of the Royal Navy failed compulsory drugs tests last year, more than twice the number caught out in 2017.

The dramatic rise could suggest more sailors are taking drugs, but the Navy has also doubled the number of tests in a clampdown on stoned sailors.

More than 8,000 personnel were tested last year, up from around 4,000 the year before.

The figures were released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today in response to a Freedom of Information request.

The majority of failed tests involved the crews of surface ships, rather than submarines.

The results are an embarrassment for the Navy, which prides itself on intercepting drug smugglers.

Last month HMS Dragon boasted about seizing over a million pounds’ worth of narcotics on the high seas.

It was the ship’s second drugs bust in a fortnight, while patrolling the so called “hash highway” and “smack track” across the Indian Ocean.