Decision on Ramsgate Brexit port funding on hold

A decision on budget cuts which could have prevented Ramsgate reopening as a ferry port in the event of a no-deal Brexit has been delayed.Thanet District Council had been set to cut £730,000 of spending on the port.But it delayed the decision at the request of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.Council leader Bob Bayford said Mr Grayling had asked that it be postponed while talks with shipping firm Seaborne Freight continued.The government handed the company a £13.8m contract to run a service to Ostend, in Belgium, to alleviate any delays at Dover in case of a no-deal Brexit.Councillors had said they would vote on the proposed cuts if a new deal to provide a Ramsgate to Ostend service was not signed.Its budget has to be approved by 11 March - 18 days before the UK is due to leave the EU.Seaborne Freight, which came under fire after it emerged it has no ships and has not run a ferry service before, said dredging at the Port of Ramsgate to make it ready for ferries was "nearing completion".