EAST Lancashire Tory MP Nigel Evans ended a visit on board the Royal Yacht Britannia by urging the Government to ensure it is replaced.

The Ribble Valley politician said he has detected a growing cross-party feeling in favour of such a move in the Commons.

Mr Evans, who this week attended a Royal Navy presentation on the soon to be decommissioned vessel, said it was vital to replace this unique institution.

The opposition frontbencher said: "There is nothing like Britannia.

"The Government needs to get together with private industry and see what can be done. "There is a growing feeling among MPs of all parties that it should be replaced.

"No other country has anything like Britannia. When British trade missions go abroad and they arrive on the Royal Yacht no-one else can match it.

"Any trade mission from anywhere in the world can land at an airport by 747 or even Concorde but only British ones can arrive on Britannia.

"Getting rid of it is ending 300 years of history.

"If the Government co-operates properly with the private sector there is no reason why a single penny should be diverted from essential services like hospitals or schools."

Mr Evans added that Britannia had always been available to be used as a hospital ship - as he recalled it had been during the Falklands War - and said that replacing it would help allay Navy concerns about further possible defence cuts.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.