THE Sandbanks Ferry will be out of action for several weeks next month while a planned refit is carried out.

The last service will be at 11.10pm on Sunday, November 2, and the Bramble Bush Bay chain ferry – which crosses the entrance to Poole Harbour between Sandbanks and Shell Bay – will then be towed to Southampton the following day for work to begin, weather permitting.

In a statement on its website the firm said: “We expect that the ferry will be out of service for 4-5 weeks but we will do our best to keep the inevitable disruption to the minimum and return to service as soon as possible.”