YORK looks set to lose its close links with the Royal Navy for good when HMS York is decommissioned next month.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed there are currently no plans to use the name York on a new Royal Navy vessel when the Type 42 Destroyer is lost.

The news came after it emerged the Ministry is trying to sell the ship to another Government, even while it is still in service.

The MoD’s Disposal Services Authority has put the vessel and another such destroyer, HMS Edinburgh, up for sale on its website .

A spokesman said he was unable to give any further information about what will happen to the ships or the amount the Ministry is hoping to get for them, “as the process for selling them is not complete”.

The ships are being sold as part of the Government’s Strategic Defence Review announced in 2010, which is cutting the Royal Navy’s surface fleet.

The spokesman said ships such as York were currently being replaced by the Type 45 Destroyers, the largest and most powerful destroyers ever built for the Royal Navy.

“Although still in service, HMS York and Edinburgh are currently being marketed for government to government sale. Selling assets in this way strengthens international relationships and generates income that can then be re-invested in defence.”

HMS York, which entered service in 1985, has long had civic links with the city, with its crew regularly visiting the region for parades and other events over the years.

Former Lord Mayor David Horton , who met the commander and crew of HMS York during a visit to the city earlier this year, said it was a shame there would no longer be a ship named after York, but the city and Cardiff would in future share links with HMS Dragon.

Current Lord Mayor Keith Hyman said HMS York’s commander and crew would exercise their freedom of the city for the final time in a parade through York on the morning of Saturday September 15, before handing back the freedom.

He hoped a scroll and the ship’s bell might be given to York to go in the Minster, allowing the freedom to be given back if ever another ship was named HMS York.