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Brittany Ferries has cancelled some of it scheduled sailings to and from Plymouth - and modified thousands of passenger bookings - because of preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

The cross-channel ferry operator said timetables from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth were being changed to ensure "critical goods" could still be transported - and that about 10,000 passengers were affected. It has confirmed that its Plymouth to Roscoff route was one of three that have been affected.

A spokesman said about 5,000 bookings - 10,000 passengers - were affected. He said: "In most cases it's no change or a small change. But In some cases it can involve moving from an overnight sailing to a morning or afternoon sailing or vice versa.

"We apologise in advance for any inconvenience that these changes may cause, but hope that the additional sailings will offer customers more choice."



“We will be contacting all those affected in the coming days,” said Nigel Wonnacott, head of communications. “Where proposed changes do not work for a customer, we’ll do our utmost to find an alternative crossing. We’d like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused.”

Mr Wonnacott said the sailings had been cancelled because schedules had been changed, to enable more sailings to take place.

"Everyone will simply be moved to an alternative," said Mr Wonnacott. "For most, that’s an hour or two either side of the original 'cancelled' sailing."

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The affected Brittany routes (and ships) are:

Le Havre - Portsmouth (Etretat)

Cherbourg - Poole (Barfleur)

Roscoff - Plymouth (Armorique)

Brittany Ferries said it had modified its schedules and was contacting all affected customers - and some have already taken to social media to express their anger. One said: "This is the message I received from Brittany Ferries at the weekend. I’m unimpressed at this level of self-inflicted harm to put it mildly."

Back in December, the Government revealed it was paying £102.9m to three contractors to provide extra capacity and ease congestion at Dover, in the advent that the UK leaves the European Union without a deal on 29 March. French company Brittany Ferries was awarded £46.6m, £42.5m was awarded to Danish shipping firm DFDS and £13.8m to British firm Seaborne Freight.

A statement on Brittany's website said: "The contract guarantees space on some of our ships and Channel routes for the delivery of critical goods post-Brexit, like medicines.

"It has been described as a kind of insurance, or safety net, to help ensure the smooth transit of these critical goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit after the 29th March."

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