ONE of the Royal Navy’s finest will sweep into Poole on Friday.

Visitors will be able to board HMS Cattistock, which has just returned from a seven-month tour in the Gulf, over the weekend. The mighty 750-tonne vessel is used on anti-mine missions and is the largest warship ever constructed from glass-reinforced plastic, which is strong enough to withstand explosives.

The ship's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Adam Northover, said Poole had played a key role in his decision to join the Navy.

He said: “I visited Town Quay in 1991, before I joined the Royal Navy, while on a potential officer’s course.

“It was the warm welcome the yacht got in the town that made me think more seriously about joining up.”

HMS Cattistock’s gangway will be thrown open to the public on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm, then on Sunday from 11am to 5pm.

Poole's new mayor will then taking the salute of the Band of the Royal Marines (Plymouth) on the Quay on Tuesday (May 10).

The civic party will be accompanied by the Lord Lt of Dorset, Mrs Anthony Valerie Pitt-Rivers.

The band will perform from 12.45pm for approximately half-an-hour.

HMS Cattistock is 60 metres long and carries a crew of 45, many of them divers whose job it is to swim to mines in order to place explosives.