A REDBRIDGE pensioner has become locked in a legal battle over the salvage rights to the Titanic.

American company RMS Titanic Inc, which is currently involved in a legal fight in the US to be recognised as the sole owner of artefacts from the ship, is facing an unlikely challenger in 73-year-old Douglas Faulkner-Woolley, who lives in Green Lane, Goodmayes.

Mr Faulkner-Woolley, a self-confessed Titanic fanatic, disputes the company's bid, saying American courts do not have any power over a British-made ship in international waters, and argues he is the only person that holds the rights.

The retired caterer says he registered a claim for ownership of the ship in 1981 which has gone undisputed in the UK.

He said: “Some people think I'm mad but the Americans can't stop me doing anything if I want to as they have no power over the Atlantic.

“I own it and I have the rights.”

But the legal status of the Titanic, which sunk in 1912 after hitting an iceberg with the loss of around 1,500 lives, remains as murky as the waters which engulf it.

The company which originally owned the “unsinkable” ship, the White Star Line, no longer exists, while the last survivor of the disaster, Millvina Dean, died in June of this year at the age of 97.

Nonetheless a determined Mr Faulkner-Woolley still hopes to lead a trip to recover the pieces of the wreck and bring them back to British.

He said: “Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated about the Titanic. I've always wanted to launch an expedition there. A project like this will of course be difficult but I am determined.”

He says an expedition is being planned for next year funded by a television production company which wants to make a documentary about his scheme, although he claims a confidentiality clause prevents him from releasing further details.

A US federal judge is expected to make a decision over whether to approve RMS Titanic Inc's claim in January 2010.

Mr Faulkner-Woolley says the scheme first originated in conjunction with Loughton man Derek Berwin from a voyage in 1977 by the HMS Hercules by Seawise Titanic Ltd.