A FYLDE ferry operator has hit back at a 'ridiculous' council decision to ship-wreck plans for a new-look Fleetwood to Knott End ferry.

The council has also withdrawn its annual subsidy, which leaves the 100-year-old service's future in severe doubt.

The service has been operated by Fleetwood-based Wyre Waste Management on behalf of Wyre Borough and Lancashire County Council since 2001.

As The Citizen reported in April plans were afloat to create a year-round passenger service including a new-look ferry slip and a £100,000 purpose-built vessel.

Lancashire County Council had already appointed a naval architect to design and build the new boat on the condition that Wyre had to commit to a 10-year deal to pay the running costs of the vessel.

But councillors decided to shelve the project during at a cabinet meeting this week.

They blame lack of interest in the service and a rise in costs after it was estimated that each £3.80 trip would require a £7 subsidy from the council per person.

Wyre's Portfolio Holder for Physical Environment, Cllr Peter Hawley said: "We did not take this decision lightly and it is sad that it has come to this.

"But the cost of providing the service would simply be too great for the people of Wyre."

Wyre Borough Council have pledged to put their current ferry budget of £10,000 into improving existing bus services between Fleetwood and Knott End. But a spokesman for Wyre Waste Management, Ian Drury, said: "We're all very disappointed with this latest development.

"Over the last couple of years we've spent a lot of time and effort trying to give the ferry service some credibility and we feel a lot of people have come to rely on it.

"The excuse that the service was not generating enough interest and income is ridiculous.

"Our records show that, each season, we were taking more than 14, 000 people to and from Fleetwood to Knott End.

"That is an awful lot of cash generated by tourism for local trade and we can't believe that the council can just lose interest in such a profitable project.

"And, as far as we were concerned, we had got through the red tape, the plans had been agreed and the money was in place to go ahead with the new plans.

"We just don't understand the cold feet all of a sudden.

"Over the course of our negotiations with the council we even offered to set up a scheme whereby we buy the actual ferry slip site over a ten year period to cut out any hint of a risk for them.

"But unfortunately, now the plug has been pulled, we're going to have to look at other alternatives to keep the service up and running, possibly including local investment.

"One thing is for sure, we can't let the ferry service go back to the state it was in two years ago."