HMS Victory To Be Repaired

25 January 2011, 10:38 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Up to £20 million is going to be spent stopping Britain’s most famous warship, HMS Victory, from breaking apart.

It's after a survey of the ship - which is at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard- found it is slowly rotting away and in danger of splitting under its own weight. 350,000 people a year visit the attraction.

It's reported the MOD has agreed to pay for the repairs, which could be started later this year. The restoration will take up to 10 years to complete.

Alistair Thomspon, from Portsmouth City Council, said it's great news:

"HMS Victory is an emblem of our maritime heritage a true icon in every sense of the word, and I'm delighted that the MOD is stumping up the money to make sure she is protected. The work needs to be carried out quickly, and if it wasn't the rotting timbers would only have got much worse. So this is a really great day for HMS Victory and everyone that's been campaigning to keep her safe."