MASTS from the Victorian tea clipper Cutty Sark, which was badly damaged by fire today, are being stored at Chatham's Historic Dockyard.

They were taken there at the end of last year while vital restoration of the famous ship was being carried out.

The three 16-ton, 100-ft high masts are being stored at the dockyard between the submarine HMS Ocelot and the Victorian sloop HMS Gannet.

The masts were due to become a visitor attraction in their own right in the dockyard during 2007.

Computer experts at the University of Greenwich, which has a campus in Chatham Maritime, were playing a key role in the restoration of the ship, which was ravaged by today's blaze.

Researchers used software predictions to ensure that the fragile, 137-year-old vessel was dismantled and restored in the safest possible way.

A fire is being treated as suspicious by police. An area around the tea clipper had to be evacuated.

A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said about 50 per cent of the ship had been removed for restoration work. He said the Trust was devastated but it could have been worse. The decks of the ship are said to be unsalvageable.

The vessel became a national icon and an international visitor attraction after coming to rest in dry dock at Greenwich in 1957.

A report three years ago predicted the ship would fall apart within 10 years if nothing was done.

Advice from the Greenwich team formed part of a submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund, which won £13 million towards the Cutty Sark restoration project.