An exact replica of HMS Endeavour has been bought for £1.5million - and the new owners plan to retrace Captain Cook's legendary world voyages.

The Endeavour is currently moored in Whitby harbour, near where Captain James Cook was born and where he and his crew set off from in the original vessel in 1768.

Since 2018 it has been refurbished, complete with fully equipped kitchen, three decks with a capacity for 250 people and a licence to sell alcohol.

It was put on the market for £1.5million and it has been snapped up by an Australian buyer who bought a share of the ship from current owner Dean Heslop.

The Endeavour in Whitby is one of only two full sized replicas in the world – the other stationed in Sydney at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

There were suggestions the 4,306 sq ft ship could be turned into a nightclub, Indian restaurant, or even a fish and chip restaurant.

The new owners plan to make the vessel seaworthy and transport it to the countries the original Endeavour discovered including Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia.

Mr Heslop said: "With the new investment of funds, fun and enthusiasm from Australia we are looking forward to fast tracking the second stage of our business together."

"This is a great milestone in our journey and since purchasing Endeavour we have been hard at work building and investing in the future of our Whitby icon and bringing a quality and unique hospitality experience. "

"It is great to be teaming up with the Australians to build on this incredible part of our shared history together."

The owners intend to run the Endeavour as a pub, restaurant and wedding venue in Whitby, North Yorks., during the UK's spring and summer months.

It will then be transported down under every autumn to take advantage of the Southern Hemisphere's summer before returning to Whitby each February.

The Anglo-Australian deal was brokered by Simon Burbridge of Nationwide Business Sales.

He said: "Our campaign earlier this year attracted extremely strong interest from across the UK and Europe – with an exciting proposal from Australia that ultimately proved a winning formula for local and global relations."

The Endeavour is currently closed for winter for refurbishments and repairs but it is hoped it will be open by March next year.

The original Endeavour travelled around the world mapping islands in the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand and along the East Coast of Australia between 1768 and 1771.

It was eventually scuttled and sunk at the bottom of Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, USA during the American War of Independence in 1778.