Repair costs may doom liner

LOS ANGELES - Attempts to save the Queen Mary have suffered a further setback with the release of a consultant's report that the former luxury liner, now moored at Long Beach, needs dollars 27m (pounds 14m) spending on repairs and maintenance, writes Phil Reeves.

Parts of the 58-year-old vessel, which once carried the rich and famous across the Atlantic, are badly rusted, sections of her decks are buckling, and there has been a 'general deterioration' caused 'by the lack of a definitive maintenance schedule', the report states.

Its findings have increased fears that the vessel will ultimately be scrapped or sunk.