Minister in ferry crime warning

A ferry will sail between Lewis and the mainland from this weekend

A veteran campaigner against ferries sailing to the islands on the Sabbath said services to Lewis will bring "things that terrified parents".

The Reverend Angus Smith lay down on the pier in Kyleakin in 1965 when the first Sunday ferry sailed to Skye.

He said services to Lewis will lead to shops opening on Sundays and the arrival of crime from the mainland.

But writer and broadcaster Dr Finlay Macleod, who supports the service, said it will be good for the island.

Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne will introduce Sunday ferry services from Ullapool on the mainland to Stornoway on Lewis this weekend.

'Significant step'

In May, CalMac said it had been approached by the Equality and Human Rights Commission following a complaint which suggested it was operating in breach of the Equality Act 2006.

The company then received legal advice from a QC who said it would be unlawful to refuse to run a service because of the religious views of just part of a community.

But Mr Smith said if people respected God's rights, human rights would then be protected.

On the launch of the service, he said: "I think shops will open, I think church-going will go down, I think also that the crimes on the mainland will gradually more and more shift to this island - things that terrified parents."

Dr Macleod, a long-time supporter of Sunday services, said opposition to ferries sailing was strange.

He added: "This is a significant step for ordinary civic life on the islands."