Cowes Floating Bridge: Free Christmas Day travel offered

The £3.2m vessel has been beset technical faults and service interruptions

The Isle of Wight's troubled chain ferry is set to offer free travel on Christmas Day.

The floating bridge, which returned to service on Monday after four months out for repairs, will waive its vehicle and passenger fares when it operates between 07:00 and 14:00 GMT.

Users on social media called for fares to be dropped throughout the whole festive period.

Isle of Wight Council called it a "gesture of goodwill".

The floating bridge on the River Medina has been beset with problems since its 2017 launch and suffered an engine issue ahead of the late August Bank Holiday.

It resumed service on Monday, a week later than expected, following repairs to its prows and ramps.

The council said in a statement that a "launch service for passengers and cyclists" will take over between 10:15 and 12:15 on Friday "in order to complete a minor repair and adjustments following the recent works to the floating bridge".

'Tight-fisted'

The council posted news of free travel on Christmas Day on its social media pages.

"This offer is to mark the return of the floating bridge and as a gesture of goodwill and thanks to passengers for their patience during recent repair works," it said.

One user branded it as "tight-fisted".

"Why not offer this service on a day when passengers will actually use the service?" he added.

"That's optimistic that it will even still be running by then," said another.

When it is out of action, drivers travelling between Cowes and East Cowes face a detour, via Newport, of up to 11 miles (18km).

Since it started service in May 2017, the £3.2m chain ferry has had numerous problems, including broken chains, excessive noise and cars scraping their bumpers.

A council decision on the future of the vessel is set to be made in January, following an independent review from the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership and the outcome of legal mediation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.