TEENS are refusing to serve on UK nuclear submarines because they would have to spend months without TikTok and Instagram.

       Sailors are only allowed to receive two 60-word messages a week and cannot send any replies during months-long secret patrols.

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       Teens are refusing to serve on nuclear submarines as they have to spend months without TikTok Credit: PA

       The messages, known as “family-grams”, are read by the captain, even if they are saucy or intensely personal, to safeguard security.

       Royal Navy chief Admiral Ben Key said recruits expected “near permanent connectivity” which was impossible on a nuclear sub.

       He said: “I think we’ve got to fundamentally change our offer in order to attract people with the sort of skills we need.”

       One Navy sub with nukes must always be on patrol in the event of World War Three.

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       But the Navy insisted it had enough crew to maintain Britain’s nuclear deterrent.

       It said all employers were “competing for people against a national shortage of technical skills”.