The Sir Samuel Kelly lifeboat currently sits in a car park

The Sir Samuel Kelly rescued 33 of the 44 survivors of the ferry disaster in January 1953, and helped to save many lives along the coast off Donaghadee for more than 30 years.

Having retired from service in 1979, it now sits on wooden blocks in a car park near the town's marina.

Amid increasing concern that the once proud lifeboat is being allowed to rot away, people in the town are discussing how to restore it to its former glory.

The lifeboat came to the aid of the stricken Princess Victoria in 1953

David Gordon, chairman of Donaghadee Community Association, said after a meeting on Monday that there were encouraging signs the boat could be saved.

"We had quite a good meeting where everyone was in agreement that we have to do something about the Sir Samuel Kelly, hopefully within the next 18 months to two years," he said.

"We are talking about moving it onto the sea front near the war memorial - there's a nice area of greenery and we are looking at it becoming a memorial garden for the war dead and those who died at sea as well."

In the 1980s, budgetary constraints meant the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, which owns the boat, was finding it hard to maintain the vessel, so volunteers took it on loan and painstakingly restored it.

However, a lack of funding along with exposure to the elements and vandalism has left it in poor condition.

Billy Lennon, former Donaghadee lifeboat coxswain and chairman of the Sir Samuel Kelly Preservation Society, said it has been difficult to maintain the boat.

Enthusiasts hope to move the lifeboat to a site on the sea front

"We have tried for 18 years to improve the boat but it's very hard to keep it up to scratch," he said.

Mr Gordon said those interested in restoring the lifeboat included the local council, the town's historical society and the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

"Our major help is going to have to come from funding bodies, either in Northern Ireland or in the rest of the UK," he said.

"If you'll pardon the pun, we are going to go full steam ahead with this because there are other developments happening along the sea front over the next couple of years, so we are hoping the Sir Samuel Kelly will be moved as part of that."