SHALDON Parish Council has been roundly criticised for 'fettering' the sell-off of Shaldon Ferry.

An objection by the parish council to the Department of Transport has been taken seriously by the minister, who has told Teignbridge Council that he will withhold permission for the sale until the objection has been removed.

At Teignbridge Council's executive committee on Monday Council leader Alan Connett made his irritation plain, repeatedly rebuking the parish council for 'fettering' its disposal plans. He said that the council could not allow itself to be 'held hostage', later admitting they were 'well and truly hamstrung' and that the parish council held 'the whip hand'.

Teignbridge Council, which owns the ferry, decided to sell it in 2007, with a disposal date set for last November. But the ferry operates under its own act of parliament – the Teignmouth and Shaldon Bridge Company Act 1949 – and government permission is needed first.

'Shaldon Parish Council is the biggest hindrance to us progressing either to dispose to the operator who wants to run it as a private business or simply looking for another operator, with the council operating it,' Cllr Alan Connett said.

He added that the council could not be held hostage and that council officers were looking into the legal position.

Reminded that Teignbridge Council had not just a legal but a moral obligation to keep the ferry going, Cllr Connett said that they also had a moral duty to Teignbridge taxpayers, not to subsidise the service.

'The reason it was listed [for disposal] is because we want to deliver on the capital programme which delivers across the whole of Teignbridge.

'We do have to look seriously at all our assets. We can't be fettered by people wanting to hold on to the past,' he said.

The council's disposal plan has been further thrown into disarray by the current operator's announcement that he intends to quit at the end of the summer season.

Cllr David Cox, who is not an executive committee member, was present at the meeting, pointed out that the council could find itself facing a big bill. The main vessel, built in 1947, needs a complete overhaul at the end of the season. Also any new operator would have to shell out on new equipment, including a life raft and life jackets, just as the business enters the winter season.

Last week the operator, Jim Trout, told this newspaper that he wanted to buy the business but could not make the figures stack up.

But Cllr Connett was keen to suggest at Monday's executive that there might be other people happy to take it over.

'Teignbridge Council can't go on doing deals with people it likes. It needs to advertise free availability of that service.'

Despite the grandstanding, it is understood that talks will be held between the operator and council officials to see if a deal can be hammered out.

As a last resort, the act governing the ferry gives the council the option to abandon it giving three months' notice, but this would be likely to provoke howls of protest from both seaside resorts.