A PRIVATE ferry service carrying the borough's Ford workers across the river has been axed after more than 30 years.

Ford says there are so few workers using the ferry from Belvedere, since Dagenham stopped producing cars in 2002, it can longer justify the expense.

Unions applied to the High Court last week to stop the closure. The case will be heard next month but in the meantime the company has laid on a free bus service for workers.

The decision has meant the end of a family business and redundancy for the 13 people it employs.

Ian Thorne, 40, the operations manager of RG Passenger Launches says he was given four weeks notice of the closure, although he has to give his workers three months notice.

He says the company will now try to sell its three boats. Then he will be emigrating with his family to Portugal to join his father and stepmother.

Speaking as the last ferry left on Friday, he said: "It is a pretty sad day and I am angry with the way Ford is going about it."

The ferry used to run 50 trips a day across the river, taking just 10 minutes. Now the workers will travel by bus, taking nearly an hour, and face delays and closures at the Dartford crossings.

Ford says the numbers using the service to get to work have dwindled from a peak of 1,200 to just over 200.

Trade unions Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union have been in talks with the company for months to try and save the service.

The unions claim 300 workers still use the ferry and they will be left with few alternative ways of getting to work.

Ford provides a car park on the riverfront at Belvedere for workers using the ferry and a bus service to Nuxley Road for those without cars.

A spokesman for Ford says all the regular passengers will be offered £1,000 in compensation. He declined to say how much the service cost the company but claimed the sum was into six figures.

He added after researching alternative routes to work, both by car and public transport, he was confident all the workers would be able to get to Dagenham whatever shift they worked.

He said: "This just brings the ferry users into line with all our other employees. They were the only ones to get their transport to work paid for by the company."