THE influential trust formed to buy Bembridge Harbour is putting together a bid for it.
Confirmation the harbour, which has been in troubled water in recent years, was being sold came from Southampton agents Chesterton Humberts.
The sale follows the recent release from jail of owner Endon Barry Blatch after an outstanding fine of £220,000 was paid.
Blatch, 62, of Shoreham, West Sussex, had pleaded guilty to six counts of breaching an order disqualifying him from being a company director in relation to several companies, including Bembridge Harbour Improvement Company.
He spent a weekend in prison after failing to meet the two-year deadline to pay.
Donald Biddle, chairman of the Island trust formed to buy the harbour, should it come on the market, said: "We very much hope to be in a position to make a bid.
"We have got some very good friends and we now need to translate that into money after discovering what is for sale and how much it will cost, because that is not yet known."
News of the harbour being for sale comes days after a January 19 date was set for a Department for Transport public inquiry. The inquiry was forced by the harbour users’ group.
The harbour is one of the few in the country in private ownership, after it was sold by British Rail in the late 1960s in a controversial transaction that sealed the political fate of the then Island Tory MP, Mark Woodnutt.
• Chesterton Humberts says the annual turnover is about £600,000, although the actual figure will be disclosed only to prospective buyers. The asking price is expected to be more than £3 million and will be finalised early in the new year.
Reporter: richardw@iwcpmail.co.uk