P&O cancellations see passengers diverted to Hull from Dover over Easter weekend

Passengers set to travel on P&O ferries from Dover to France this Easter weekend are set to be diverted to Hull, after a number of cancellations.

The company has said vehicles booked to sail from Dover to Calais would instead need to travel from Hull to Rotterdam.

A spokesperson for the company said they were sorry for the disruption but did not give a reason why the services had been suspended.

It comes as large queues of lorries have been reported in Dover after services from the southern English port to France were cancelled.

Traffic which was due to travel on the ferries will now sail to the continent via P&O's Hull to Rotterdam route which remains in service.

The company has also booked passengers onto Brittania Ferries' Portsmouth to Caen service.

The company's spokesperson said the changes would come at no extra cost to customers and mileage expenses would be reimbursed, as well as original charges discounted by 25 per cent.

The spokesperson said: "We apologise unreservedly to all customers whose scheduled journeys with us between Dover and Calais have been cancelled whilst we are unable to sail.

"It is only fair and right that we make alternative arrangements for those customers, which include transferring them on to our Hull-Europort service to Rotterdam, or booking them on to services with Brittany Ferries between Portsmouth and Caen. "

The news follows the return of P&O's Pride of Hull ferry to King George Dock this week after it was berthed in Rotterdam's Europort from March.

The moving of the Dutch port came after the company sacked almost 800 crew, including 82 in Hull, without warning on Thursday, March 17.

It is unknown whether the latest cancellations are linked to the sackings.

The company has seen its losses swell since 2019.

They are now thought to be as high as £100m, with the exact figure set to be revealed when it files its yearly returns this month.

But the RMT trade union and politicians have slammed the moves.

They led Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to refer Mr Hebblethwaite to the Insolvency Service to see if he is fit to remain in post.