Ferry funding millions belatedly signed off

The money will go towards the building of a new ferry landing at North Shields Fish Quay

Millions of pounds of funding to safeguard a ferry service has been signed off.

Money for the Shields Ferry in Tyne and Wear was due to be agreed earlier this month but the decision was pushed back after too few councillors attended the meeting.

A total of £4.58m has now been approved by the North East Joint Transport Committee (NEJTC) for the service.

Ferry operator Nexus is looking for a construction firm to build a new ferry landing at North Shields and remove "redundant structures".

The existing jetty is expected to deteriorate into an unusable state in the near future, which sparked concerns the ferry service may be forced to close if a replacement is not built.

The project at North Shields Fish Quay has suffered a number of setbacks, including Nexus losing government funding for the scheme and North Tyneside Council failing in a Levelling Up Fund bid.

The Shields Ferry could end if a new jetty is not build

The NEJTC's funding for the ferry service has been reallocated from unspent money from the Metro Flow project, which will see the dualling of the railway line between Pelaw and South Shields.

But the cash is not enough to pay for the entire project, which has seen its costs spiral to an estimated £14.6m.

Regional transport chiefs previously asked the government to “accelerate” £8.1m due to be given to the North East Mayor, once elected, for the project.

Nexus and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership are also committing money to the new jetty.