Weymouth's cross-channel ferry could restart with council plan

Condor relocated its cross-channel services from Weymouth to Poole in 2015

A ferry service between Weymouth and the Channel Islands could be restarted, for the first time since 2015, after a plan was formally submitted.

Weymouth Town Council has sent plans to Dorset Council but neither authority has yet released full details.

It is thought a confidential business case, seen by town councillors last week, could be trialled in the autumn.

But Dorset Council said the town council's proposal did not outline all of the possible costs.

When the ferries were moved from Weymouth, it was estimated the move cost the town about £750,000 a year

A ferry service ran until March 2015, when provider Condor Ferries switched its cross-channel service to Poole after starting to use a £50m ferry that was too big for Weymouth's port.

At the time, the move cost Weymouth's Harbour about £750,000 a year.

A plan to work out if a return of the cross-channel service was viable started in June 2021, with the town council saying it would explore other uses for the ferry terminal if it was not.

The town council is set to amend its proposal and return it to Dorset Council ahead of the trial service potentially starting later this year.