Ferry service sailings doubling for some of winter

The Dartmouth Lower Ferry connects Kingswear and Dartmouth on opposite sides of the River Dart

A ferry service on a Devon river will have two floats between much of December and February, a council says.

The Dartmouth Lower Ferry, which crosses the River Dart between Dartmouth and Kingswear, normally drops back to one float for all of winter.

South Hams District Council said it would trial doubling the service between 11 December and 4 February.

It said the increased services were in response to community demand.

The service will still drop back to a single float between 30 October and 10 December to allow for an annual refit.

There would only be one ferry running again between 5 February and 17 March to allow for the other float to be refitted, bosses said.

Victor Abbott, council executive member for community services, said a decision would be made on the future running of the service at the end of the trial.

"Everyone wants to be able to travel seamlessly for shopping and work get-togethers in the run-up to Christmas, to visit friends and family too," he said.

"This way our team will continue to run double ferries over the busiest seasonal period and will still do all the necessary safety checks that need to be carried out annually."