Council apology over wrong date for Cowes Floating Bridge suspension

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Cowes floating bridgeImage source, IOW Council
Image caption,

The £3.2m vessel has had a number of technical faults and service interruptions

A council has apologised for giving out the wrong date for a chain ferry to be withdrawn from service.

Isle of Wight Council had published that the Cowes Floating Bridge would not run for a week from 07:00 BST.

The mistake meant many faced an 11-mile (18km) round trip by road to travel between Cowes and East Cowes.

The authority said: "Unfortunately dates in our press release were wrong. Apologies to anyone who has been inconvenienced this morning."

IOW Council tweetsImage source, IOW Council
Image caption,

The council published the wrong dates for the work on the ferry

It took to social media to complain about the press reporting the ferry was not running, before issuing an apology.

The confusion irked many residents and local press.

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It has since confirmed the council-run ferry is running to timetable on Monday, and will be taken out of service from 05:00 BST on Tuesday until Friday afternoon.

An exact time for the ferry resuming crossings has not yet been given.

A foot passenger service will be in place for the week.

The chain ferry, which has experienced many failures since it started operating in May 2017, is having its chains replaced.

Issues include it regularly running aground, being taken out of service after a chain broke during a crossing, and electrical faults.

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