Elson said: “It’s deeply sad that a washed-up, clapped-out old hack like me has to be doing this.
“It’s a no-brainer that a massive piece of Beatles memorabilia like that should be saved, yet they were going to sell it for scrap.
“You would think that they would have learned after that whole own goal with the Cavern and Ringo’s house in Madryn Street, which they were going to demolish until a campaign was launched to save it.”
The Salvor was one of two salvage vessels operated by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, used to lift navigation buoys in and out of the Mersey.
The ships were scrapped in the late 1970s but, in what Elson called a “rare moment of maritime sentimentality” the council bought the mast and it was placed on the Strand roundabout.
After it was removed, the council indicated it would find a new home for it.