A heritage group has voted 11-1 in favour of launching a campaign to save Great Yarmouth's historic jetty, from which Nelson left for the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 and landed victorious afterwards.

A heritage group has voted 11-1 in favour of launching a campaign to save Great Yarmouth's historic jetty, from which Nelson left for the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 and landed victorious afterwards.

The vote was taken at the end of a special meeting of Yarmouth Archaeological Society, held at St Nicholas Church on Monday.

The meeting, also attended by a member of the Nelson Society, was called in response to the borough council's admission that it could not afford the �350,000 cost of fully restoring the landmark - closed to the public for the past year on safety grounds.

In the hope of public support emerging, the council offered campaigners a glimmer of hope by deferring for nine months its plan to demolish 24 metres of jetty and restoring the remaining bit.

Margaret Gooch, secretary of the archaeological society, described the outcome of the meeting as positive.

She added: 'Our first action will be to clarify the situation with the council to make sure we know what they are proposing and how long we have got to save the jetty. If it is possible, we are determined to launch an appeal because of the jetty's historical importance.

'While the present structure is mostly 20th century, a jetty was built on the site in 1560, and it probably looked very similar in the 19th century when Nelson left there.'

Ms Gooch added that the jetty was historically the place where fish and goods were landed over the centur-ies if the river was silted up.

As the council has earmarked �90,000 for its demolition and limited restoration plan, a public appeal would need to raise a further �250,000. Tim Howard, borough head of regeneration, has said previously that the jetty is not listed and so would not qualify for a grant; so, a public appeal is thought the only chance of raising the money.