AFTER easing its way through choppy waters Falmouth's very own park, ride and float scheme finally got off the ground this week with a Champagne launch.

A month behind schedule the unique facility at Ponsharden will allow visitors to leave their cars in the 450-space car park and catch a free Truonian bus service to the Prince of Wales pier every 20 minutes.

But proving to be the main attraction for the scheme is the chance to board the one of the three classic wooden boats operated by Cornwall Ferries Ltd and cruise down the Penryn River disembarking at the National Maritime Museum.

There is also an extra shuttle boat to the Prince of Wales pier which people can catch but have to pay extra.

It is hoped that the new park and ride scheme will have a major impact on the town, persuading people to stay there longer, but this week businesses around the Prince of Wales pier say they have seen a dramatic drop in the number of visitors.

The facilities are part of the £3.3 million Ponsharden Maritime Project, which, controversially, includes a boat lay- up facility for boat owners and purpose built workspace for the NMMC to store some of the national small boat collection and restore other boats ready for exhibition.

The Falmouth Marine College will also be using some of the new workspace for its traditional boat building and boat restoration and conservation courses.

The other end of the 3,600 metre facility will be taken up local yacht builder Rustler Yachts, which is relocating from the nearby Kernick Business Park and expanding.

The Ponsharden site also contains a visitor centre where passengers can buy tickets for the ferry into town and avoid the queues at the NMMC by purchasing a fast-track entry combination museum and ferry travel ticket.

The Ponsharden Maritime Project has funded by Discovery Quay Enterprises, the South West Regional Development Agency, Rustler Yachts, Cornwall County Council, Carrick district council , Cornwall Enterprise and the European Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

But the scheme has been criticised for the way the contract to run the float scheme was put out to tender by other cruise operators.

"It has been an up and down journey," said Tim Light owner of Cornwall Ferries Ltd "But I never had any doubt that this would happen. I think it is going to be fantastic system for tourist and local people.

"It is the ideal 365 day solution to the parking problems in the town. We feel very proud to be offering such a great service for both visitors and locals alike.

But Mr Light told the Packet at the launch of the scheme that everyone else had the same opportunities as he had.

"They all had the chance but left it too late," he said "The tender was advertised in the press and I went to all the other operatives so they knew exactly what I was doing."

Peter Cowling, director of the NMMC said: "The park and ride service is the result of a huge team effort. This operation is unique in the UK and through our collaboration with Cornwall Ferries we are able to offer visitors something truly original."

The park, ride and float scheme has had a troubled history and at one point nearly didn't happen at all.

Planning permission was held up for several weeks while discussion took place over how many car parking spaces were provided.

Objective One funding for the project was in danger of being withdrawn after a discrepancy in the planning application was found. Far fewer car parking spaces than first thought were being provided, priority being given to boat lay-up operated by a private company.