Tory ministers have been urged to back a major funding bid that would save the Shields Ferry from being shut down in 2025.
Council bosses in North Tyneside have launched a bid to the government’s Levelling Up Fund to support a major regeneration of North Shields town centre and the Fish Quay – including an essential new ferry landing needed to protect the historic river crossing. Transport chiefs have warned that the ferry’s existing north jetty is deteriorating so badly that it will be too unsafe for passengers to use come 2025.
Unless a replacement can be built by then, the service would be forced to close – potentially marking a sad end to centuries of ferries carrying people across the Tyne. Proposals for a new landing closer to the Fish Quay have been in the works for several years at operator Nexus, but were dealt a massive blow last summer when the majority of its funding collapsed.
