HISTORIC steamship TS Queen Mary has left Greenock and gone upriver to Glasgow for the winter.

The last remaining turbine steamship to be built in Scotland returned to the city yesterday for the first time since 1977, under tow, after a berthing deal was struck with Glasgow Science Centre.

The historic vessel is being restored by the Friends of TS Queen Mary charity, who say they needed to find a safe place to berth the ship over the winter months as her base here was ‘required for other commercial marine work’.

Trustee Iain Sim said: “Glasgow Science Centre has been fantastic in offering us this berth, giving us a safe place to berth her over the winter months.”

TS Queen Mary is expected to remain in Glasgow until early next year and options for a permanent home for the vessel, once she has been restored, will be explored.

The vessel was rescued from almost certain demise earlier this year after she was found languishing in a dockyard on the Thames Estuary.

She was towed to Greenock in May where she was met by a flotilla of pleasure boats and crowds of people who lined the waterfront.

Since then her hull has been stripped, coated and repainted after paint specialists Jotun and AkzoNobel donated tens of thousands of pounds of specialist coatings and time.

Volunteers are aiming to raise £2 million to transform the ship into an arts and culture destination.