Call to rethink clipper's future

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The fire at Cutty Sark could mean just one clipper from the same period remains intact - and there are plans for it to be demolished.

The City of Adelaide was built in 1864 and, like Cutty Sark, combines a cast iron frame with a wooden hull.

Later renamed The Carrick, the clipper is currently housed at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, Ayrshire.

Experts will meet next week to discuss the demolition. They will now consider whether to put the plans on hold.

Modern-day replica

The City of Adelaide was built in Sunderland in 1864 to carry people emigrating to southern Australia.

It has been rotting away on the quayside in Irvine for 15 years.

Along with Cutty Sark, it is one of the last clippers in the world but at least Â£10m is needed to repair it.

Experts said that so much of the structure would need to be replaced that it would amount to building a modern-day replica.

The 900-tonne Cutty Sark was built in 1869 by Scott & Linton in Dumbarton.

The tea clipper, which was struck by a fierce blaze early on Monday morning, had become a magnet for tourists and historians alike.