DEFENCE Secretary Des Browne has pledged to resolve the fate of a former Navy minesweeper at the centre of a long-running environmental row.

Frank Cook, MP for Stockton North, has been campaigning to have the TS Kellington, safely disposed of.

The vessel was sold to the Sea Cadets as a training ship by the Navy, for £2,000 ten years ago, and has been moored on the River Tees at Stockton since.

But the ship has fallen into such a state of disrepair that it has been condemned as unsafe and is in danger of sinking.

Mr Cook called a meeting in Stockton last month in an attempt to come up with a solution.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), British Waterways, the Environment Agency and Stockton Borough Council.

Mr Cook has since received a letter from Mr Browne saying action will be taken.

Mr Browne has asked one of his ministerial team, Lord Drayson, to look at options for the ship's disposal.

The MoD's Maritime Salvage Operations and British Waterways have also agreed to pool resources, and intend to pump out the ship's bilges to remove the risk of a potential environmental hazard.

Mr Cook said: "Whilst we are certainly not out of the woods just yet, I am pleased that the Secretary of State is taking a more helpful and constructive approach than we have experienced from the MoD's representatives over the past four years.

"Obviously, it is important to tackle the environmental risks as a first priority. But I will be seeking early discussions with Lord Drayson to impress upon him the need for the MoD to recognise that, whatever the legal arguments, it does have a responsibility to the local community to find a solution to the vessel's disposal.

"The ship is now both an eyesore and a potential danger. The local emergency services have serious concerns - we know it is used by vagrants, with the obvious risk that entails - and it must be removed to allow the ambitions plans for regenerating the riverside area to move ahead."