THE King Harry Ferry will be of service from this Saturday for its five year dry docking and extended maintenance.

The scheduled maintenance was supposed to have started on February 26 but, because of dry dock availability was moved to February 20. It will not be back in service again March 4.

During this period, there will be no service between Feock-Philleigh and drivers will need to use the road route through Truro, Tresillian and Tregony instead.

Every 5 years, the ferry needs to dry docked to examine the hull and replace vital parts of machinery to maintain it for future years.

This will be the ferries third dry dock cycle since she started service back in 2006.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause," they said.

During the refit period, we will be working round the clock replacing worn parts, repainting the entire ferry, hull inspections, slipway maintenance and much more.

Established in 1888, the ferry connects St Mawes and the Roseland Peninsula with Feock, Truro and Falmouth by avoiding the alternative 27 mile route through Truro and Tresillian.

Each year the King Harry Ferry saves 5 million car miles, 1.7 million kg of CO2 and ¾ of a million litres of fuel. Before the pandemic it carried 300,000 cars every single year.

The service between Trelissick Gardens and Philleigh King Harry Landing carries commuters and tourists alike.