Barrow council has announced that electric ferries for Piel island will begin operation. But stopped short of saying how they intend to pay for it, or when they will start operation.

The announcement came from Ann Thomson the leader of Barrow council, as part of a getting to know you exercise with her opposite numbers at South Lakeland District council (SLDC) and Lancaster Council.

The Lancaster and south Cumbria joint committee meeting started with the big announcement about the story we broke some weeks ago on a 'carbon free Piel island and its diesel powered ferries.

Barrow Borough Council announced that as part of its low carbon scheme, it wanted to make the Island, which is popular with walkers and tourists, carbon neutral.

Cllr Thomson also announced at the joint committee that the Pub on the Island will also go carbon neutral.

John Cleasby operates the two ferries between the Island and the mainland called Enterprise and Endeavour,

he labelled the plans as a ‘silly idea’ last month and that ‘will not work’, stating that if his boats were both moved from diesel to electric, then they would not be powerful enough to get to the Island. He said: “No way can this be done, you need a diesel engine to cope with the tides and that’s not carbon neutral. When a ten foot tide comes in, my 35-horsepower diesel engine ferry is the only one powerful enough to get you safely to the island.

On hearing today's news Mr Cleasby said: "So far no body from the council has got hold of me to tell me what's going on."

When questioned on how much electric ferries will cost and when they will be brought into service, a spokesperson for Barrow council pointed us to the details online which although failing to answer the question said;” Carbon Neutral Piel Island; is focused on land and property owned by the Borough Council and led by Barrow Borough Council. The council will install electric vehicle charging points, to establish Piel Island as a zero carbon community.”