COUNCILLORS were due to vote last night on a proposal to set up a ferry service from Woolwich Arsenal to Canary Wharf.

The scheme, which would be funded and operated by Thames Clippers and Berkeley Homes, would transport commuters up the river in 20 minutes.

The two firms have asked the council to let them use Woolwich Arsenal Pier free of charge for a six-month trial.

If councillors give the scheme the thumbs-up, the first boats could be ferrying passengers by June 26.

Thames Clippers has teamed up with Berkeley Homes to provide a undisclosed subsidy for the trial.

The service will offer seven trips at peak times from Monday to Friday.

If the service is financially viable and popular with passengers, it is hoped it will continue after the trial period.

But residents' group The Charlton Society fears running a ferry service would not be viable in the long term.

A spokesman said: "While we are 100 per cent in favour of creating greater use of the river, we feel the service wouldn't be economical and would be too slow for commuters."

But a spokesman from the river transport arm of Transport for London, London River Services, which gave Thames Clippers a £3m subsidy in 2003 to extend its Greenwich Pier service, welcomed the new project.

He said: "It would be a great thing to provide another river service in a new location.

"We hope it will be successful and the service attracts sufficient passengers to cover the cost of the trial."

Thames Clippers started the Greenwich pier east service in April last year.

Around 350,000 people use the service each year. It stops at Greenwich, Isle of Dogs, Surrey Quays, Canary Wharf, St Katharine Docks, London Bridge, Bankside and Blackfriars before arriving at Savoy Pier on the Embankment.