ONE of Britain’s most historic sailing ships is for sale  at her Liverpool berth –  with a £2m price tag.

The 113-year-old tall ship  Kathleen & May, built at  Connah’s Quay in Deeside,  has already attracted interest from the Far East with  an offer of £2.3m.

Another potential buyer  would like to relocate the  tall ship to Falmouth.

Agents for the tall ship’s  owner, Steve Clarke, are  urgently seeking a buyer or  consortium to keep the tall  ship in Liverpool.

Mr Clarke, 62, who runs  a plant hire company at  Bideford, Devon, wants the  vessel to stay in the UK,  preferably in Liverpool.

He is willing to accept  the £2m valuation put on  Kathleen & May by the Arts  Council and the auction  house Bonhams.

Mr Clarke is selling Kathleen & May  because increasing  health problems  make it difficult to  continue his involvement with the  ship, which he entirely restored.

Ideally he would  like the ship bought  and put into a charitable trust to benefit  from grants unavailable for one in  private ownership.

The Arts Council  has withheld an export  licence until February 19 to  ensure any UK interest has  time to materialise into a  bid.

Kathleen & May is Britain’s last main mast top  sail schooner.

She is one of the few  operational sailing vessels  on the National Historic  Ships’ Register of 50 core  vessels and one of the first  to be designated officially  as a national treasure.

Since being relocated in  2010 from Bideford to  Liverpool, the tall ship has  had a high-profile berth by  Merseyside Maritime  Museum, in Canning Dock.

Mr Clarke’s agents, Jeff  and Cindy Grice, who act  as caretakers for the ship  in Liverpool, are keen to  remain in the city.

Mrs Grice said: “Any  money raised towards the  £2m price will be ‘gap-  funded’ by the Arts Council. That means even less  than half this sum would  ensure the ship’s future in  Liverpool.

“If there is serious UK  interest, the export licence  will be withheld until the  end of June.”

Mr Grice added: “It  would be appalling for the  ship to leave Liverpool as  she worked around the  Irish Sea until 1961.

“This is a world-famous  port, the nearest safe berth  to where she was built and  a perfect  match with the  Albert Dock architecture.

“Last year, we had 23,000  visitors and our link with  the Maritime Museum  brought hundreds of school  children aboard.”