Torbay Ark Royal to become divers' paradise?

PA

Plans to turn the Royal Navy's former flagship HMS Ark Royal into a diving wreck received a £6.5 million boost this week.

Engineering firm A&P Falmouth have agreed to act as a guarantor, and scrap metal company GH Newbery and Son offered to pay the £3.5 million purchase cost to help Torbay-based dive group Wreck the World realise their dream of turning it into a divers' paradise, says the BBC.

The Ministry of Defence have not yet announced who they will sell the 688ft vessel to, and other proposals include a commercial heliport in London, a nightclub and school in China, and a casino in Hong Kong.

The group have secured a 125-year lease for a site off the Devon coast has with the Crown Estate, subject to a winning bid and meeting environmental requirements.

Michael Byfield, a diving instructor who runs Wreck the World with colleague James Doddrell, told the BBC : "If it goes for scrap, especially to a foreign entity, there will be no social and economic benefit.

"With our project, once she is in the water she will keep on giving."

The artificial reef is likely to cost £35,000 a year for divers, but could make around £30 million in five years for the local economy.

Peter Child, managing director of A&P Falmouth, told the BBC:"This is a credible project and would be a positive outcome for the iconic ship, as well as both the South West tourism and ship repair industries."


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