CALLS have been made for Inverclyde to invest in a decommissioned submarine to use as a tourist attraction. Bill Mutter, 63, believes an Oberon-class submarine, many of which were built at Scotts of Greenock, would be popular if exhibited in the town.

He reckons one of the subs would be available for around £125,000 and could mirror the success of a similar project in Birkenhead on Merseyside.

Bill, of Skermorlie, says there are four more submarines available through the Navy contacts he has developed while researching the possibility of bringing a submarine to Greenock.

He said: 'If someone was interested enough, maybe Riverside Inverclyde, it could be a great attraction. There is nothing to see in Greenock just now.

'I"ve been involved in advertising of some kind all my life, and a submarine exhibit could potentially make a fortune.

'The exhibit at Birkenhead has been making £80,000 every year and I"d be confident it could do the same at Greenock.

'The Navy is very keen to help and seems to want the submarines to be displayed in Greenock. I think this project is even more possible now than it was when we first looked into it.' The project has won the backing of Riverside Inverclyde chiefs and former Provost Ciano Rebecchi.

The regeneration group"s chief executive Bill Nicol said: 'We would definitely be interested in having a discussion with Mr Mutter.

'We looked into purchasing a submarine that was available on eBay from Australia a while back, but it proved impossible because we weren"t residents of Australia.

'There"s a chance it would involve a bigger bank account than we are able to provide, but we would certainly be open to listening to the proposal.' Councillor Rebecchi says the submarine could have a similar impact on Greenock as the royal yacht Britannia has had on Leith.

He said: 'It would be ideal for Inverclyde and could be a great attraction at the oldest dry dock in the world, which is in Greenock next to T-Mobile. We are losing a lot of heritage and this could help that.

'Young people would feel a sense of pride seeing what their fathers and grandfathers helped build at the docks years ago. If you look at the success of Britannia in Leith, we could have achieved similar results.' Decommissioned submarines have been turned into tourist attractions in the form of walk-through exhibits, such as the HMAS Otway in Australia.