Fare increases on the ferry which provides a lifeline service to some of the most remote communities on the British mainland, have been deferred by Highland councillors

Legal advice is to be sought on how European competition law applies, and more work is to be done on cost implications and options for alternative fixed crossings.

The Corran Ferry allows access to and from the communities of Ardgour, Morvern and Ardnamurchan via a narrow stretch of Loch Linnhe. Many use it to commute to Fort William every day for work, making life practicable.

Local residents claim it is it one of the shortest and most expensive ferry services in the land and any more increases would herald further depopulation.

But Highland Council officials had recommended that councillors approve a 4 per cent increase in fares from April 1 2015 with the prospect of annual increases of 4 per cent likely to be required in each of the following two years.

The 4 per cent would have taken the cost from £7.90 to £8.20 per car for the 500-yard crossing. A book of 30 tickets for a car or small van would have increased from £69.50 to £72.00.

Having sought advice from Transport Scotland officials are concerned that the authority could be in breach of European state aids regulations, if it continued to subsidise the Corran Ferry as a loss-making service.

But a motion for deferral from Andrew Baxter Independent councillor Fort William and Ardnamurchan, was passed by the council's Community Services Committee.

Consideration was given to transferring responsibility for the service to Transport Scotland.

But committee chairman Graham Mackenzie said: "If the service was transferred to Transport Scotland under Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), the fare increases would be significantly higher than the relatively small increase we are proposing."

Meanwhile the STUC is warning the Scottish Government and MSPs that it is opposed to the re-tendering of CalMac's Clyde and Hebrides ferry services (CHFS). In a briefing document it says that ministers, having awarded the Orkney and Shetland contracts to the private sector Serco, should not seek to do the same on the west coast as it "would not be in the interests of passengers, communities, workers, safety, businesses or the taxpayer. "