Cowes Floating Bridge: Ferry back in service after prow fault

East Cowes councillor Karl Love posted a picture of the £3.2m ferry with its ramps in the water

The Isle of Wight's troubled chain ferry was suspended again, less than a month after resuming following a hydraulic oil leak.

A council statement said engineers dealt with a fault with the vessel's east prow on Tuesday evening.

The local authority confirmed the ferry returned to service late on Wednesday morning.

East Cowes councillor Karl Love posted a picture of the £3.2m ferry with its ramps in the water from Tuesday.

Mr Love praised the crew on board for "trying their best to get it going" after the latest fault developed.

"We desperately need to replace this floating bridge once and for all. I've been arguing for the last two years if not longer about the only cost-effective solution being to replace it," he posted on social media.

The £3.2m Floating Bridge Number 6 has been beset by problems since entering service in May 2017

The ferry, which crosses the River Medina between Cowes and East Cowes, has been beset with problems since it replaced the previous Floating Bridge 5 in May 2017.

It only returned to service at the beginning of December after a hydraulic oil leak halted it for a week.

At the time, it had been in operation for 10 days following repairs to its loading ramps.

It was also laid up for three months after a hydraulic fault, found during routine maintenance work in July.

Other technical issues since the first launch of the council-run ferry, include broken chains, excessive noise, electrical faults and cars scraping their bumpers.

When the ferry is out of action, a replacement launch operates for foot passengers while drivers face a detour via Newport of up to 11 miles (18km).