FOR Southampton pensioner Mary Field, the Hythe ferry has always represented a quick and easy escape route from the hustle and bustle of city life.

She has sailed regularly on the service for the past 60 years and is heartbroken that the ferry route is now in jeopardy.

Mary, of Banister Park, is lending her full support to the Daily Echo campaign to save the vital link between the city and the Waterside.

She believes that a trip on the Hythe ferry provides a cheap and refreshing day out for people on tight budgets.

Mary said: "Financially and otherwise-restricted people in our area can pop down to the bottom of the town and in no time have a trip on the water to a charming village, feeling different again when they return. Talk about a wow factor!"

Mary has personal experience of how rewarding trips on the Hythe ferry can be and regularly used to take aged members of her family on board.

"I took my dear mother and auntie down at times when they were in their late 80s and they absolutely loved it.

"They couldn't go very far by car or train and a short afternoon trip out on a boat was thrilling for them.

"When I'm on the ferry, I look around and see older people who are retired and probably don't drive any more and they can still have a trip on the water.

"It is heartbreaking to think it could be lost."

Ferry operators White Horse Ferries have warned that they may be forced to pull the plug on the service, which carries 400,000 passengers a year, if they are forced to pay crippling new business rates.

Their bills have soared by 740 per cent and Daily Echo readers are being asked to sign a petition demanding that the sums should be reviewed.

Do you believe that Hythe ferry should be saved? Call Sarah Jones or Chris Yandell on 01590 613839 and tell them what the service means to you.