Two of Britain's oldest and most popular ships, the Mary Rose and the Cutty Sark, have been awarded �31m towards their conservation by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

An emergency grant of �10m has been given to help cover the costs of the restoration work needed on the Cutty Sark after it was consumed by a fire in May 2007.

Burnt teak hull planks had to be removed as a result of the crippling blaze, which nearly destroyed the 138-year-old London-based vessel.

The remaining �21m of the Heritage Lottery Fund grant will enable further conservation work on King Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose.

The Mary Rose is kept in an atmospherically controlled dry dock in Portsmouth's dockyard.

The money will mean the ship and thousands of artefacts recovered from the sea bed, such as this anchor was in 1995, will be housed under the same roof.