WE will fight on! - That was the message last night from campaigners after they lost the latest round of their legal battle against new Wightlink ferries operating on the Lymington to Yarmouth route.

Members of the Lymington River Association (LRA) claim the W-class vessels are damaging the marshes and should be replaced with smaller craft.

In 2011 a planning inquiry ruled that Wightlink could continue to operate the 1,496-tonne vessels, despite the environmental protests.

The LRA sought a judicial review of the decision but its original application was rejected by the High Court, which said the association had failed to mount its challenge within the six weeks allowed.

Now the LRA's appeal has also been thrown out - at a hearing that lasted just 26 minutes.

Wightlink said it hoped the decision would mark the end of a four-year legal battle that had so far cost it more than £3.4m, but the association vowed to lodge another appeal.

LRA spokesman Stephen Akester told the Daily Echo: “We were given only a few days' notice of the latest hearing.

“The judge appeared to have made up his mind beforehand, which is not acceptable. He set out what he saw the situation to be and didn't give us a chance to put our case.

“But we're not giving up. We're going to appeal and are meeting our team this weekend.

“We're not trying to stop the ferry service but the vessels are too big and are damaging part of the marshes. Their power and displacement are many times greater than the C-class vessels they replaced.”

Wightlink has dumped 2,000 cubic metres of silt near the river entrance to offset any erosion resulting from ferry movements.

But the LRA has dismissed the scheme, claiming the company is not allowed under European habitat laws to cause any damage to the area.

Last night Wightlink's chief executive, Russell Kew, said: “Our W-classships are operating reliably, with reduced environmental impact.

“The habitat creation works are going very well under the close supervision of a robust and independent environment management panel.”