Political editor
A campaign is mounting to cut prices on one of the most expensive ferry crossings in the country.
Portsmouth MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry has thrown her weight behind a protest at the high prices charged by Wightlink Ferries.
Prote
st group, Ferry Passengers for a Fair Deal, claims that since 2004 the prices for extended return tickets and season tickets to the Isle of Wight have both gone up by between two and three times the rate of inflation.
Campaigners are now demanding the Competition Commission investigate the cost of travel on the company’s vessels in the waters of the Solent.
Ms McCarthy-Fry, pictured right, said: ‘This is an important issue which affects many of my constituents.
‘While I appreciate that prices cannot stand still forever, the price rises we have seen have been indefensible and are hitting hard-working people where it hurts.
‘I strongly support calls for the Competition Commission to investigate this matter.’
It costs an average of £9.72 per mile for a car with four people from Portsmouth to be transported to Fishbourne and back.
This is compared to 66p per mile for a return journey for a car and four adults from Ports-mouth to Cherbourg.
Ms McCarthy-Fry, who used to commute to the Isle of Wight from her Portsmouth home before she was elected to Parliament, said she was only too well aware of the rising costs.
She pointed out that the last Competition Commission investigation in 1991 warned that Wightlink’s dominant position ‘could be open to abuse and there may be a need for a monitoring of its profitability and fares in the future’.
The group has set up an online petition for people to register their concern about ferry prices at www. competition4iowferries. blogspot.com.
Wightlink spokeswoman Kerry Jackson said: 'It is entirely wrong to make comparisons and draw conclusions between Wightlink and the other operators.
‘The services are not comparable with regard to the size of respective ships operated.’
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