A ROYAL Navy minehunter due to tie up alongside Poole Quay today to become the town’s adopted ship, will provide a homecoming for one member of her company.

The operations officer aboard HMS Cattistock, Lt Alex Scott, 30, is a former Poole Grammar School boy and member of Lilliput Sea Scouts.

“I am very much looking forward to my first-ever trip to my home town with the Royal Navy,” said Alex, whose mother Mary lives in the town.

“The ship will officially be affiliated to Poole after many years of informal relations, due to the proximity of the village of Cattistock” – a village to the north-west of Dorchester.

Alex joined the Royal Navy in 2002 and has been in his present post for two years.

He previously served on sister ship HMS Chiddingfold and had worked as a drilling engineer on a North Sea oil rig.

His wife Kate, also in the Royal Navy, trains cadets at Britannia Royal Navy College in Dartmouth.

The 750-tonne Hunt Class mine countermeasures vessel is on a three-day visit to the port and the ship’s commanding officer, Lt Cdr Charles Maynard, will welcome civic dignitaries on board for a formal reception tonight.

Tomorrow he will host a lunch party before members of the ship’s company enjoy a barbecue and drinks at the Thistle Hotel as guests of Borough of Poole.

“The RN has a proud history of service in Poole and I am delighted that the town has invited us to take forward this relationship in the years to come,” said Lt Cdr Maynard.

The ship will host visits by local organisations including Lilliput Sea Scouts, before returning to operational duty on Monday.