A contract worth thousands of pounds has been awarded for the latest stage of major ferry terminal upgrades.

According to the register of contracts awarded by Merseytravel, terms worth almost £50,000 were handed out for the painting works and cosmetic repairs to Seacombe Ferry Pontoon.

The ferry terminal closed to the public in December 2020 for major refurbishment work to replace the linkspan bridges and refurbish the landing stage.

All ferry services from January 2021 have set sail from Pier Head Liverpool and call at Woodside ferry terminal, while Seacombe is closed.

In December last year, two brand-new linkspan bridges were installed, replacing the existing 130-year-old bridges that were removed earlier in the year.

This included upgrading the mooring bollards and installing new powered gangways. Carried out over a four-day period, the new north and south linkspan bridges and refurbished north and south boom were installed using a specialist Lara 1 Crane Ship after being transported up the river from Garston via a barge.

The register of contracts for Merseytravel showed that terms for a month were awarded to specialist building access and at height services company, Pendrich Height Services, based in Scotland. The firm were given £48,087 to carry out the painting repairs to various elements of the Seacombe Ferry Terminal Landing Stage Building.

The works are part of a major investment by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to keep services running at Seacombe Ferry Terminal for many years to come. Once complete, the landing stage will be able to operate for another 25 years before any major maintenance is needed.

Upon the installation of the new link bridges, Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority transport and air quality portfolio holder, said: "We're hugely grateful to our loyal Mersey Ferries customers and their patience while these works are being carried out and look forward to welcoming them back to Seacombe in the new year.

"The Mersey Ferries are an important part of our cultural identity in the city region and these works will make sure that they continue to run from Seacombe for many years to come."

The ferry terminal is to remain closed until work is completed this autumn. It had originally been hoped that the work would be completed by Spring of this year.