CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save a North-East-built ship have taken a major step, with plans to bring it back to the region.

The City of Adelaide was built at the William Pile Hay shipyard, in Sunderland, in 1864, and is one of only three surviving clippers of its type in the world.

It took emigrants from the UK on their voyage to start new lives in Australia, and later saw service as a floating isolation hospital and a wartime Navy training ship.

It is now moored in the Scottish Maritime Museum, in Irvine, Ayrshire, but the museum does not have enough funds to restore it.

Campaigners from the Sunderland Maritime Heritage group unveiled proposals to bring the clipper back to the Wear as a floating museum, at a meeting last night.

The event was attended by politicians, entrepreneurs and heritage organisations, and the organisers hope it will help raise the profile of the ship, as well as the £9m needed for the move and restoration.

Brian Walker, project coordinator, said: "I am very confident, and I think Sunderland will end up with something the city and the region will be extremely proud of.

"It is going to be a symbol of the 300 years of ship building heritage of the Wear."

The campaign received a boost last week, when the Duke of Edinburgh expressed his support.

He called for a conference to be held in Glasgow next month to discuss the future of the Adelaide.

Prince Philip was informed about the ship through his position as president of the Maritime Trust, and from his son, Prince Andrew, who visited the clipper at its moorings in Scotland earlier this year.

Government officials from the UK and Australia will attend the conference, as well as representatives of heritage organisations.