THE curator at the world famous Glasgow School of Art has vowed to save a rare collection of tiled murals in a Greenock underpass after making a personal visit to the site.

A leading art heritage figure, Peter Trowles is joining forces with campaigner Douglas Neil to find a way of preserving the work of Robert Stewart.

The pair are in talks with the council to find ways to fund the preservation of the tiles at the underpass which connects the Bullring car park and the waterfront retail park.

The pieces depict famous Clyde paddle steamers and they have been targeted by vandals.

The Tele revealed the sad state of the tiles last year after concerned maritime enthusiast Douglas Neil raised the alarm.

Mr Trowles, who is busy with the restoration of the art school’s Mackintosh Building after it was ravaged by a huge fire last year, said: “The tiles are definitely worth saving and they are not beyond repair.

“The problem with this kind of art on buildings and the like is that when there is no use for the building, the art disappears.

“Robert Stewart did a lot of this work and so his art is becoming rarer.” Peter has helped rescue a number of works of art by Robert Stewart in recent years. He added: “You have to be realistic though — you cannot go to the council asking them to spend £100,000 on a restoration when the people of Inverclyde want teaching assistants.

“I think one of the avenues we will look at is digitally printing the tiles so they are recorded and can be kept.” Robert Stewart was one of the foremost British designers of his generation as well as a prolific artist.

Along with his contemporary Lucienne Day, he was viewed as a master in his field and divided his time between teaching at the Glasgow School of Art and producing innovative designs for labels like Liberty.

His work has recently been investigated in a major research project at Glasgow School of Art.

Douglas Neil, who is originally from Greenock, made the initial appeal in the Tele for help to save the tiles.

In the days that followed the council cleaned up the tiles and removed graffiti.

Douglas said: “I am delighted to have someone like Peter on board and I am grateful he came down to see the tiles.

“I think we can be very positive about this and I have had some good feedback from the council.

“They are definitely open to helping.”