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Largest warship now has own Penny Lane below deck

BBC Richard and Erica Kemp, wearing gold mayoral chains, stands next to the Penny Lane street sign, which has been unveiled behind a red and white curtain. Capt Will Blackett, in his naval uniform, smiles at the camera BBC
Lord Mayor Richard Kemp and Lady Mayoress Erica Kemp met Capt Will Blackett for the renaming ceremony

One of the world's most famous street signs will help sailors navigate their way around the labyrinthine passages of the nation's biggest warship.

HMS Prince of Wales has had one of its passageways renamed Penny Lane, in honour of the street made famous by the 1967 Beatles single that took its name.

A replica of the Penny Lane street sign - which attracts tourists from all over the world - was unveiled onboard ship on Tuesday by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

Captain Will Blackett said it was a tradition that passageways on Royal Navy ships were named after streets in the cities with which they were linked.

PA Media HMS Prince of Wales, an enormous, grey vessel with three helicopters visible on its flight deck, is towed along the Mersey Estuary by a blue tug boatPA Media
HMS Prince of Wales is the largest and newest aircraft carrier in the Royal Navy

Capt Blackett said: "Around this ship obviously we have Goodison Road and Anfield Road... we have lots of street signs to help us remember the way around the ship.

"The Lord Mayor asked me if we had a Penny Lane and we all looked at each other and realised we didn't."

The visit is the Prince of Wales' second to Liverpool. Sections of the ship were built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead on the other side of the River Mersey.

On Wednesday, hundreds of teenagers and young people were set to board the ship for an educational visit, with 20,000 tickets for tours of the ship available to the public.

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