Ferry repairs due to take longer

The Pont-Aven was towed out of Plymouth to be taken to France

Repairs to a ferry company's £100m flagship which has only been in service for five months are going to take longer than first thought.

Brittany Ferries' ship Pont-Aven was taken out of service at Millbay Docks on Tuesday after a cracked cooling valve let water into auxiliary engines.

Now in Brest, France, for repairs, she will not be ready for the Plymouth to Spain route on Sunday as hoped.

Management hope to ready for a sailing to Roscoff next Tuesday.

BBC South West Business Correspondent Neil Gallacher said: "To lose their brand new £100m flagship at the height of the season is embarrassing, but a lack of information is making the situation worse.

"There's no information whatsoever about the travel changes on the Brittany ferries website, and passengers are being asked not to ring the company either because this is jamming the call centre."

The firm has said it will call passengers who are affected.