IT has taken thousands of hours and cost tens of thousands of pounds, but Dave Howe is convinced it has been time and money well spent.

His ambition to painstakingly restore a 1960s tug and create an on-board shop and cafe has taken every spare moment of the past 16 months.

The former lifeboat crewman from Hartlepool is delighted with the result of his labour of love, which was unveiled to the public at the weekend.

Mr Howe, 57, bought the boat in October 2002 and started work to turn it into a floating business in January last year, spending up to 70 hours a week on board.

The 100ft Dutch-built tug has had an active life since it was commissioned in 1961, and was last used to run supplies to an oil rig off Grimsby.

It has undergone various name-changes, from Marg Gerling in the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp, and then Zeeland, before it was renamed Ella.

Mr Howe said: "When I found her, she was redundant.

"She was waiting for something to happen to her, and now something has happened.

"It is amazing when you look at the pictures of what she was like when I first got her.

"She is now properly insulated, has underfloor heating and patio doors. She even has a postcode, and there will not be too many tugs out there with a postal address."

Ella is berthed at Navigation Point, at Hartlepool Marina, near Mr Howe and his wife Carol's waterside business venture, Nauticalia, a small franchise that sells reproduction maritime paraphernalia.

Stock from the shop is sold on-board alongside drinks and home-made food.

Mr Howe said: "We have only been open a couple of days, but we have had some really nice and favourable comments already.

"I spent so much time here I had considered putting up a hammock. It would have saved me the petrol money going home just to sleep.

"I will have to get some time off soon because the grass needs cutting, but one of my ambitions is to make enough money to be able to pay a gardener to do that for me."