A new appeal to restore and safeguard a key part of Britain's musical legacy is being launched on Good Friday.

Fans of Radio Caroline are being asked to contribute to a crowdfunding bid to raise funds for the restoration of the Ross Revenge.

The former trawler became the home to Radio Caroline in 1983 and is now moored in the Blackwater Estuary.

Radio Caroline made its name as a pirate radio station in the early 1960s when there were no legal music channels - its original vessel was the Mi Amigo anchored off Felixstowe.

It carried on broadcasting after offshore radio became illegal with the start of Radio One in 1967.

The Mi Amigo sank in a storm in 1980 and Radio Caroline was relaunched in 1983 broadcasting from the Ross Revenge, a converted trawler.

That continued until 1991 when it was forced to dock after running aground - but changes to the radio laws meant a legal Radio Caroline could broadcast.

Radio Caroline broadcasts 24/7 from land-based studios and one weekend each month  returns to the Ross Revenge for a live broadcast from the River Blackwater.

Over this weekend trips are run from West Mersea and take around 60 listeners out for a tour over the two days.

The registered charity MV Ross Revenge aims to raise £125k through the Crowdfunder to add to the £57k already raised.

This would total about half the amount needed to approach the National Lottery for additional funding to carry out surveys in dry dock and make vital repairs.

Station manager and charity chairman Peter Moore said: “It is one of only a couple of surviving British super trawlers. Ross Revenge still holds the record for the biggest catch.

“It is the only remaining pirate radio ship still afloat, having avoided the cutter’s torch when sent to the breaker's yard to become the floating broadcast base for the Radio Caroline in 1983."