Work to restore the veteran paddle steamer Medway Queen has moved a step nearer completion.

The steamer’s giant engines have been taken to the dry dock in Bristol where a new hull is being laid down.

Strood haulage firm Swain and Sons was chosen to make the delivery.

Work will begin on building the new fully-riveted hull in April, 2009, and is due to be completed by June, 2010.

The work is going ahead, thanks to a Heritage Lottery grant of £1.8 million.

The Medway Queen Preservation Society has

been campaigning for more than 20 years to

raise the funds to restore the "heroine of Dunkirk" to her former glory.

The vessel rescued thousands of Btritish troops from the Dunkirk beaches in 1940.