Cowes Floating Bridge: Council spent £365k on ferry legal fees

The £3.2m Floating Bridge Number 6 runs between Cowes and East Cowes

Isle of Wight Council spent more than £365,000 on legal fees before reaching a settlement with the designers and builders of its troubled chain ferry.

Cowes Floating Bridge has been beset with breakdowns and technical problems since coming into service in 2017.

A freedom of information request revealed the authority spent £258,934 on lawyers and £107,455 on other costs including technical witnesses.

The council has never revealed the terms of its settlement.

The authority announced last month that it had reached a "full and final settlement" with Burness Corlett Three Quays Southampton and Mainstay Marine Solutions, but the terms would remain confidential.

The council said it could not comment on the specific case but was "mindful and pleased that it has protected island residents' council tax, avoiding a long drawn out, complicated and highly expensive High Court case with inherent litigation risk that would have been necessary had mediation been unsuccessful".

A spokesperson said: "The legal fees incurred in satisfactorily resolving the highly technical and complicated dispute have been part of the overall process since delivery of the vessel and were necessary to approach a satisfactory outcome, which has been achieved from a council perspective."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said council leader Lora Peacey-Wilcox defended the use of a non-disclosure agreement in the settlement, saying it was the difference between a deal or no deal.

Since reaching the settlement, Isle of Wight Council's Alliance administration said a new floating bridge was "under serious consideration".

The £3.2m vessel, which runs between Cowes and East Cowes, has had numerous problems including breakdowns, broken chains, excessive noise and cars scraping their bumpers.

The council said it would keep it as "operational as it possibly can" until a permanent solution was agreed.