Dartmouth has got to move quickly if it stands a chance of cashing in on its Pilgrim Fathers claim to fame ahead of competing Harwich and Plymouth.

The town has got to start looking now at how it can maximise publicity for businesses ahead of the 2020 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower, a town councillor Francis Hawke said.

Plymouth has always claimed to be the place from which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from on their world famous voyage to the New World.

Now Harwich is claiming the glory because that is where the ship's crew and captain came from.

And the port is even planning to build a £2.5m replica of the Mayflower which would be ready for a 2020 voyage across the Atlantic.

But Dartmouth can claim to be the port from which both the Mayflower and the Speedwell originally set sail for America until the Speedwell began to leak and they both had to seek shelter in Plymouth.

Now Cllr Hawke is calling on the town council to look at how the town can commemorate the event in seven years time – before everyone else cashes in and grabs all the glory.

'We know that they sailed from Dartmouth and we need to get a bit of publicity out of it for the town,' he said.

'Plymouth is claiming they sailed from the Mayflower Steps and now Harwich is claiming links and even building a replica Mayflower,' he said.

Cllr Hawke appealed to town mayor Paul Allen to make sure the important anniversary is debated by town councillors.

'I just think we ought to consider celebrating it or in some way getting some publicity out of it for the benefit of the town and the businesses,' said Cllr Hawke.

In July, 1620, the Speedwell left Holland with the colonists and met up with the Mayflower at Southampton and additional colonists. Both ships set out for America on August 15 but the Speedwell began to leak and the two ships were forced to put in at Dartmouth.

A plaque in Bayards Cove. put in place in 1957, records that the two ships stayed at anchor in Dartmouth for eight days before they set out again for America.

Once again the Speedwell began leaking and this time the two ships stopped at Plymouth where the Speedwell was sold and Mayflower set out alone.