Attempts to restore a Dumbarton-built paddle steamer which is lying decaying on the Isle of Wight appear to have fallen through.

A group which was hoping to preserve PS Ryde, the last paddle steamer to carry passengers across the Solent, has said the ship has deteriorated so badly they "would have to let her go".

Lisa Turner, who owns ship restoration company Siward and Co, broke the news on the Facebook page, Friends of PS Ryde, describing the decision not to proceed as "heartbreaking".

The ship, built by William Denny and Brothers and launched on 23 April 1937, sailed between Portsmouth and Ryde pier.

Lisa said on Facebook: "Heavy hearted sadness brings this post. In December last year we went on board as [we] had been told by many people that PS Ryde had deteriorated badly in weeks.

"When we went on board, this was very apparent, in fact she was so bad one member of the team nearly fell through her walkway where the engines were.

"Ryde's bridge had collapsed that much, it was now resting on her bow, and the wood protecting her windows were now gone."

Lisa first fell in love with the rusty old steamer when she saw it languishing at Island Harbour Marina on the Isle of Wight.

An appraisal was carried out by National Historic Ships UK, confirming the vessel could be salvaged.

Lisa, 35, from Cramlington, Northumberland, had estimated it would cost between £7 million and £10 million to restore the vessel, and in November she entered a contract to buy the old steamer.

Read more: Maid of the Loch's owners to hold independent inquiry into Loch Lomond slipping 'setback'.

She said previously: "Once the restoration is complete we would return her to the island, hopefully to sail regularly from Ryde.

"Everyone seems to want her to sail again. The PS Waverley rebuild shows anything is possible."

Meanwhile, the focus has fallen on another historic paddle steamer, Maid of the Loch, which is undergoing renovation on Loch Lomond.

Her owners have announced they are to hold an independent inquiry into how the operation to 'slip' the historic paddle steamer at Balloch last week went wrong.