Labour unrest was at the heart of the postponement of a new fast ferry service on Monday which left disappointed customers with long waits.

The new 5 p.m. service from Hamilton to Rockaway, Southampton was mysteriously cancelled before its first journey.

Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown confirmed rumours, originally denied by a Government press officer, that staff were unhappy about not being properly told about the new service.

He said: "In making the scheduling changes we crossed the T's but we didn't dot our I's in terms of the notice to be given to the union. "It's not the union's fault. "We didn't follow to the letter of the agreement."

Dr. Brown said he didn't know when the service would start but he said the Director of Marine and Ports had told him he expected it to begin this week.

Last night Shadow Transport Minister Erwin Adderley blasted Dr. Brown for his handling of the matter.

He said: "These people are not novices.

"I can't accept for this matter the union was overlooked.

"You don't plan for another run without having some idea of how it would be manned."

Mr. Adderley said he believed overtime money was at the heart of the issue.

"If he was finding difficulty finding the money to pay the overtime he would have benefited from using the $35,000 paid for the party for airport staff.

"The public would have been a lot happier."