A SMALL scale replica of the Mayflower Ship is hoped to go on display at Harwich's first maritime festival after it's success in London.

The Harwich Tourism Group heard how thousands of people were given leaflets about Harwich and the Mayflower 400 celebrations last week at London Liverpool Street.

An 18-foot reproduction of the 17th century ship became the centrepiece of the station on Wednesday.

Rail users were able to learn about the history of the original and it's Harwich captain Christopher Jones in a bid to encourage tourism and promote the Mayflower 400 anniversary in 2020.

Terri Ryland, from the Essex and Suffolk Community Rail Partnership, which staged the event with the Mayflower Heritage Centre, said: "The profile for Harwich was huge.

"There was loads of interest and we gave thousands of leaflets away - we had six to eight suitcases of leaflets all about Harwich, Dovercourt, the Mayflower 400 and other areas."

Paul Milsom of Milsom Hotels, chairman of the tourism group, asked if it would be possible to stage the event again next year with it being the 400th anniversary of the legendary crossing.

Fiona Brunning, from the Harwich Haven Authority, said plans for the company's first Maritime Festival on July 27, which is replacing the town's Sea Festival this year, were coming together.

She said: "We are hoping to do some public art with Galloper Windfarm. "I think it would be really good to replicate something like Liverpool Street with something telling everyone about the Mayflower and the other destinations."