Rotting wrecks make final voyage

Work to transform Bowling Harbour is under way

A WWII minesweeper and a torpedo boat are among 10 sunken vessels being raised from the entrance to the Forth and Clyde Canal.

The £1.5m clean up aims to transform and revitalise Bowling Harbour in West Dunbartonshire by April.

British Waterways Scotland described the wrecks as "a safety hazard" and said they would be broken up.

Propellers from some of the boats will go on display on the harbour side when the improvements are completed.

The project will create a public events area, new moorings, car parking and a boat storage area.

'Improve facilities'

Scott Gaherty, project manager with British Waterways Scotland, said: "The work forms part of the ongoing revitalisation of Scotland's reopened Lowland canal corridor.

"The boat removal operation represents one part of a bigger project to clean up the whole harbour area and improve facilities for boaters and other users."

Once lifted out of the harbour the boats will be transported by barge on the River Clyde.

They will then be taken to a landfill site.