More than two centuries after Captain Cook set sail for the unchartered waters of Australia in his legendary ship Endeavour, a couple are looking to bring the great vessel back to its spiritual home.

Colin and Rachael Jenkinson have ambitious plans to build a one-third size replica of Endeavour and see it set sail from Whitby Harbour once more.

The couple are seeking permission to take tourists and Cook enthusiasts on pleasure trips from the North Yorkshire port.

Their plans have won the backing of civic leaders who believe the building of the authentic replica will "significantly reinforce Whitby's heritage".

If the project is given the go-ahead, the ship will be built on Whitby's Eskside wharf.

Mrs Jenkinson said: "Whitby Museum has offered to be more than helpful in getting it right.

"It would be put on a viewing platform, enabling the public to view the building of it, the treating of the wood and everything else."

The couple have asked Scarborough Borough Council for permission to berth and operate the vessel.

Councillor Michael Pitts said: "This will be an authentic replica built using traditional methods and I think it will help significantly to reinforce Whitby's heritage."

The homecoming of an Australian-built replica of Endeavour attracted more than a million people to Whitby in 1997. Its arrival pumped an estimated £8m into the local economy.

The original 368-tonne Endeavour was built in the Whitby yard of Thomas Fishburn in the mid-1760s and set off for Australia in August 1768.