There are fears a ghost ship full of diseased cannibal rats could be about to crash into the coast of Devon or Cornwall.

The abandoned Lyubov Orlova has been missing since it cut adrift while being towed from Canada nearly a year ago.

The 40-year-old liner has been driven across the Atlantic by high winds and is thought close to the UK shore.

Based on emergency beacons activated last year aboard the ship, it is feared the 40-year-old Yugoslavian liner registered to Russia could crash into the shore of Devon, Cornwall, Ireland or Scotland.

Those searching for the ship say there are likely to be thousands of disease-ridden rats on board with no source of food except each other, according to The Sun.

Belgian-based searcher Pim de Rhoodes said: "She is floating around there somewhere. There will be a lot of rats and they eat each other."

The 4,250-ton ship built to carry 110 passengers was impounded in Canada in 2010 after being deserted by her crew in a debt row.

Two years later, she was towed to the Dominican Republic to be scrapped - but abandoned when she broke free.

The MCA believes the ship may have sunk, but those searching for the ship to cash in its £600,000 scrap value say sinking would have activated emergency beacons aboard the liferafts.

A spokesman said: "The MCA has received no sightings of the former Soviet cruise ship 'Lyubov Orlova' since April last year and there is no evidence to suggest it is still afloat.

"Any 'ghost' ship entering European waters is highly likely to be reported due to the large number of vessels passing through the area. We would then act accordingly."

Read more: http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Ghost-ship-cannibal-rats-crash-Devon-coast/story-20487193-detail/story.html#ixzz2rHliPcgx