Cowes Floating Bridge: Ferry still out of service after software glitch

Crossings between East Cowes and Cowes have been halted since Sunday

A chain ferry removed from service after suffering a problem with its software is still out of action.

The Isle of Wight Floating Bridge stopped running on Sunday evening - it had been expected to resume by Wednesday.

The island's council said engineers had been unable to fix the issue "which manages the onboard technical systems".

The vessel can still cross the river with the defect but the software has to be working to carry passengers.

In a statement the authority said: "It is a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) safety requirement that the system must be operable for us to carry members of the public aboard the vessel.

"Whilst we are committed to getting the floating bridge back into operational service as quickly as possible, we must put passenger safety first."

When Floating Bridge No 6 is not running motorists face a 12-mile detour via Newport.

The £3.2m ferry has been plagued with breakdowns and problems since it started service in 2017.