LOCALS in Troon have been reacting furiously this week after a government report favoured Ardrossan to keep the Arran ferry.

The government ‘STAG’ report recommended that Ardrossan keep the running of the ferry to Arran because it was the fastest, shortest and cheapest route in comparison to Troon.

The report was sent out to all relevant parties at the beginning of last week and they now have 14 days to respond before the Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, will announce his official decision.

Troon Councillor Philip Saxton expressed his extreme disappointment last week after he learned of the Scottish Government’s decision about the ferry service.

He said: “I am very annoyed about the recent statement made by the Minister for Transport Humza Yousaf (SNP) MSP who decided that Ardrossan is still the preferred location to operate the Arran and Campbeltown ferry service in preference to Troon Harbour.

“It is impossible to understand the logic of this decision as Troon comes out as a better location based on the business criteria that the report considered. 

“Troon has come up as a more reliable option since Ardrossan suffers from 200 cancellations a year.”

He added: “It appears that Troon has a much stronger business case as the owners of Troon were willing to invest £8m in a new berth with no requirement for Scottish Government investment subsidy. 

“Ardrossan, on the other hand, will require a public purse hand-out of at least £40m to bring it up to scratch."

Cllr Saxton concluded: “At a time of severe public cuts and when other public sector transport arrangements are causing so much public concern, you would think that the SNP Government would be learning some lessons from these other disasters and make decisions based on cost to the public purse and customer reliability.”

It seems that there are mixed views with the Transport Minister’s decision.

A spokeswoman for the Troon Business Association, said: “We have always said whatever decision the Transport Minister makes, we will respect that, and right up to decision day, this remains.”

Douglas Graham,Vice Chairman of Troon Community Council, added: “Obviously it is very disappointing and we have got to accept the decision but what we need to know is what it will cost the tax payers.”