This is the striking sight that will greet visitors to the newly restored Cutty Sark next year.

Raised 10 feet above the surrounding pavement, the 979 tonne vessel will appear to be floating thanks to a glass bubble around its dry dock.

The new image shows how the historic ship will look at the end of a two-year renovation costing £23 million.

The top of its mast will be 160 feet above ground and will be visible from miles around.

A visitor centre will be constructed underneath the bubble. The record- breaking tea clipper, which has been voted one of 184 official icons of England, will reopen next November.

It was built in 1869 and has been preserved in its own dry dock in Greenwich since 1954, but was closed to the public shortly before Christmas to allow for the restoration work.

The boat's masts have been temporarily removed to the Historic Dockyard in Chatham while construction is under way and planks on the port side have been taken out so work can begin to prevent further corrosion of its iron frame. Anna Somerset from the Cutty Sark Trust said the planks will be slotted back into place later "like a giant jigsaw".

She added: "We are also replacing the whole of the main deck, which leaks, with teak recycled from a demolished factory in India."