IT MAY be five years away but plans are already being drawn up for how Southampton should mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.

There are hopes major events, plays, phone apps and even a Saints pre-season tournament could help the city mark the landmark in 2020.

City council leader Simon Letts has already met with counterparts from elsewhere in the country as part of a new group, called Mayflower 400, which has been launched to coordinate the anniversary.

The merchant vessel left the UK for the Americas in 1620, first leaving Richmond in London before stopping in Southampton and – most famously – Plymouth before its long trans-Atlantic journey.

It carried more than 100 Pilgrims who were being persecuted for their religious beliefs, and who signed the Mayflower Compact after arriving in what would eventually become the United States, an agreement that led to the first recorded form of democracy among settlers.

The anniversary, which is an important part of American history, will be marked on both side of the Atlantic and the Netherlands, where some of the Pilgrim Fathers lived to avoid persecution. Cllr Letts joined counterparts from councils in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Essex, Devon, Plymouth, Massachusetts and Leiden in the Netherlands for the official launch of the Mayflower 400 group.

Representatives from all of the councils discussed how to mark the anniversary and how to boost tourism through events., before attending a dinner where the guests included the descendants of some of the first Pilgrims.

There are no firm proposals for Southampton’s celebrations yet, but Michael Ockwell, the chief executive of the Mayflower Theatre, said: “We are in the very early stages of planning something to commemorate the anniversary.”

Cllr Letts has laid out some of the things he hopes can become a reality, adding: “The world would undoubtedly be a very different place today had the Mayflower not arrived in America nearly 400 years ago.

“We’re very much looking forward to working with our Mayflower 400 partners over the next few years and welcoming new visitors to the city in 2020.

“I am really hopeful that the Mayflower Park extension as part of the Royal Pier development will be nearing completion and we can have our celebrations there.

“We have got to talk to the University about putting together an academic celebration, and we could work with Ordnance Survey to see if we can put together an app to get people along much of the route that the Mayflower took. We want to talk to Saints to see if they can put on a pre-season tournament involving a Dutch team and an American one. There’s lots of potential but it’s early days yet.”