HMS Scylla is currently back in Plymouth, where she was built

The Leander-class frigate HMS Scylla will be open for viewing at Plymouth's Devonport Dockyard this weekend before wreckers get on board and start boring holes prior to scuttling her off Whitsand Bay in Cornwall.

She was bought by Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium (NMA) last month for about �200,000 with funding from the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA).

The plan is to sink the 2,500-tonne vessel for divers to explore, in addition to it being colonised by sea life.

The ship, the last of her kind to be built at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth in the late 1960s, arrived back in the city earlier this month from Portsmouth after months of negotiations.

HMS Scylla A Leander Class Frigate with a general and anti-submarine role Built in the late 1960s Weighs 2,500-tonnes 113 metres in length The ship was recommended for disposal in 1991 She was decommissioned in December 1993 Similar vessels have been placed on the seabed in Canada, Australia and New Zealand

The vessel was taken out of active service in 1993 and has been used as a training facility in Portsmouth since then.

When the Scylla is placed on the seabed, she will become Europe's first artificial reef for divers.

She is due to be sunk in April 2004, after which it is expected she will help generate �1m a year for the local economy.

Melanie Cowie, of the NMA, said: "When Scylla is finally placed on the seabed, the story of her new life just begins.

"Using divers and strategically-placed webcams, we will be able to research and monitor the incredible marine life that will inhabit Scylla. We anticipate colonisation will begin very quickly."

The aquarium has been contacted by several former crew members of the vessel, including her last commanding officer, Captain Mike Booth.

He said: "I am delighted she will be put to such good use.

"I've just returned from a three-year diplomatic posting to Canada and was well aware of the similar use some ex-Canadian Navy frigates were put to."