CLAIMS that new trials were carried out at Troon harbour by Calmac this week have been proven to be false.

The Choose Troon Ferry Campaign posted on their Facebook page that the MV Lord of the Isles was due to arrive in South Ayrshire and website ‘Ayrshire Daily News’ claimed that this was part of trials CalMac were carrying out on the port.

This is not the case and the story has since disappeared from their website and Facebook page.

CalMac have confirmed to the Herald that the move had no relation to Ardrossan or Arran.

Instead, the vessel was using Troon for its dry dock to carry out repairs on the ferry which serves the Lochboisdale-Mallaig route.

A statement from the ferry providers said that the boat was travelling to Troon for ‘unscheduled’ repairs following a routine inspection discovered thinning of steelwork.

Robert Kelso, CalMac’s Fleet Technical Manager, said: “The ship’s steelwork is formally inspected to a 5-yearly fixed schedule under MCA rules and wasn’t due to be looked at again until the end of this year.

“However, due to the severe weather conditions in which our ships operate, the onboard engineers do routine inspections in-between the formal one.

“And the latest of these just before Christmas found a small section which needed repair.”

A spokesperson for Peel Ports said: “We are grateful to the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald for clarifying this matter and confirming these are not trials and just a routine refit.”