Is it time for a no frills, low fare Solent ferry service?

It is good business by anybody's standards. Red Funnel, which makes £9m a year, has been bought by the man from the Pru for more than 20 times as much - £200m.

Now commuters on the Isle of Wight to Southampton route fear they will be the ones ultimately paying the high price.

Prudential say the deal is a good one for staff and customers alike, and that it is now business as usual with no changes planned.

The biggest change appears to be in the bank balances of the management team, who bought into the firm four years ago.

Managing director Tom Docherty said the sum they shared is "considerably lower" than the reported figure of £32m.

Commuters are calling for an inquiry into fare prices, claiming season tickets have shot up 28 per cent since 2003.

Red Funnel dismiss that, saying a season ticket costs only £100 more today than its equivalent in 1991.

Meanwhile, councillors on the Isle of Wight are weighing up plans for a new ferry port to cut congestion and introduce competition on the route, which is among the most expensive in the UK.

"If a no frills service was possible it would be a great idea. Most people on the island don't want a bridge to the island, they just want to get across to the mainland quickly and easily." Councillor Jonathon Fitzgerald-Bond, chairman of the Isle of Wight Business and Infrastructure Commission.

Councillor Jonathon Fitzgerald-Bond, chairman of the Isle of Wight Business and Infrastructure Commission, is enthusiastic about the arrival of a no-frills, low-fare rival.

He said: "We would welcome competition. I would love to see lower prices but the caveat is that we don't want people just providing a service at peak times. It must be a year round thing.

"If a no frills service was possible it would be a great idea. Most people on the island don't want a bridge to the island, they just want to get across to the mainland quickly and easily."

He is involved with the plan for a new ferry port, which could allow in another operator.

"There is a Blue Paper being presented to the cabinet recommending that we pursue an initiative to get together with private industry to jointly create another car ferry port on the island.

"This would be open to any firm, including the existing companies, to provide a car ferry service.

"We have found some interest and we think it is viable. Not only that, but we feel that if we have the majority shareholding in the ferry port then it's an investment that should pay dividends and allow us to keep control of who uses it so it can stay available to anyone who wants to use it."

Pioneers of the low fare model easyGroup, which founded easyjet and has launched similar operations in cruising, cinemas, car hire and pizza, said it wouldn't be interested in running a route to the island but said cut price competition could work.

Director of easyGroup corporate affairs, James Rothnie, said: "Most of the our businesses operate on high volume and low margin and it sounds like this sort of service would have a limited market. How far can you stimulate the market by yield management like encouraging people to book early for a lower price?

"It sounds like there are various barriers to entry but it sounds like there is a market for competition.

"I think you can get more people to fly to Amsterdam or the south of France through yield management but there's a huge segment of the market that will not be interested in travelling from Southampton to the Isle of Wight at any price. You have to have a latent demand."

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