A POPULAR ferry which carries passengers across the River Exe has had to be modified after an incident involving a drunken passenger and a heavy electric bike.

The operator of the Exeter City Council ferry suffered a “significant” knee injury during the incident which kept him off work for nearly two months. Now loading ramps have been added to the ferry in an effort to stop it happening again.

Details of the incident are included in the latest report to the city council from the authority’s harbour master. It says “a customer who was intoxicated” was involved.

The report goes on: “As the customer’s e-bike was being passed to him from the ferry to the causeway, the customer fell over on to the bike, trapping the ferry operator between the bike and the railing on the ferry.

“The operator sustained some minor abrasions as well as a torn ligament in his knee which has resulted in him being off work from July to late September.”

As a result of the accident, loading ramps have been added on each side of the bow storage section of the ferry.

“This addition makes the loading of cycles much easier and safer,” says the report.

In future heavy electric bikes will be carried in the “well” of the boat, restricting the number to two per crossing. This will lessen the risk of lifting heavy bikes onto the foredeck of the boat even with the ramps.

However, the report warns that carrying heavy bikes will mean the ferry can carry fewer passengers.