A GROUP of volunteers from Bronington who are trying to save and restore an historic warship have revealed plans to work with the owners of the port where it currently resides.

HMS Bronington is a Cold War-era Ton-class minesweeper, commissioned in 1954 and one of the last naval combat vessels to feature a wooden hull.

But after years of service it now lies abandoned, partially sunk in a Birkenhead dock having been decommissioned in 1988.

The newly formed HMS Bronington Preservation Trust hopes to work with Peel Ports to ascertain the current condition of the vessel, and if possible, remove it from the docks.

Martin Slater, one of the people involved with project, said he hoped Peel Ports would lend their support.

He said: "What we are waiting to do, we've got a letter ready to go to Peel to see if they will engage with us on trying to obviously save the ship from its current position.

"So we have to wait until that gets off and hopefully we can get some sort of reply. And then we've got to really take it from there and depending on obviously what they say.

"We'd hope that [Peel Ports] would work with us to try and get her refloated."

Martin said the current condition of the vessel's hull is currently unknown, with fears it could be beyond repair.

But he added that if the condition is okay, then the next stage of the restoration project can begin.

"We'd need to have a dive survey done on her to see what the bottom's like and all the rest of it, she's been sitting there so long," added Martin.

"That will then decide our outcome basically.

"Obviously if she's rotted away then it's probably not worth doing anything.

"But if there's still a chance then we need to then find somewhere to put her ashore to get her dried out and rip all the insides out and see what we can do from thereon."

The Herald revealed last month that plans were being drawn up to save the warship.

HMS Bronington was renamed in honour of the village, having previously been named HMS Humber.

It also spent 10 months under command of the Prince of Wales during its working life.