Councillors back ship getting Freedom of the City

According to the Royal Navy, the ice patrol ship was deployed 330 days a year

Plans to award a Royal Navy Ship the Freedom of the City of landlocked Cambridge have been supported by councillors.

HMS Protector, which is an ice patrol ship in Antarctica, supports the work of scientists at both the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey and the Scott Polar Institute.

Councillor Naomi Bennett, of the Green Party, said she realised people were "quite bemused" that one of the "furthest inland" cities in the UK, was giving this honour to a ship.

The civic affairs committee, however, highlighted the ship’s links to organisations in the city and endorsed the proposal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. A final decision will be made at a full council meeting on 23 May.

HMS Protector is based in Plymouth

A report presented to councillors at a civic affairs meeting on Monday, said: "HMS Protector is on a continuing mission to support international research into wildlife, the changing climate and shifting waters of Antarctica and upholding the UK’s long-standing commitment to the region.

"HMS Protector has the capacity to break through thick ice and provide vital support to those caught up in earth’s most challenging conditions.

"She carries on board four working craft, two cranes and a helicopter deck, with a full complement of 88, although accommodation for 100 if required.

"The council has already declared 'a strong and enduring relationship' with HMS Protector and has declared a climate emergency."

They last awarded Freedom of the City to the Hungarian city of Szeged in 2011.