Coronavirus: Isle of Wight ferry passengers allowed to stay in vehicles

Passengers can stay in their cars during some sailings to and from the Isle of Wight

Red Funnel Group Red Funnel ferry — Passengers can stay in their cars during some sailings to and from the Isle of Wight

People sailing on ferries to the Isle of Wight can stay in their vehicles on some sailings, amid coronavirus fears.

Red Funnel and Wightlink will allow passengers to sit in their cars on "vehicle deck only" crossings to stop non-essential contact with others.

This is not usually allowed because of Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) safety regulations.

The select crossings are running between Southampton and East Cowes and Portsmouth and Fishbourne.

Passengers must remain in their vehicles - lounges on the ships will be closed and shops and cafés will not be open. There will also be no access to toilets.

'Unprecedented'

Fran Collins, chief executive of Red Funnel said: "Many of our customers have been in touch in recent weeks to request that this option be available and while we empathised with their requests we were legally unable to oblige until now.

"The MCA's decision to provide a temporary exemption to this aspect of the safety code which applies to our operation is unprecedented."

Both ferry firms are running their other services to and from the Isle of Wight normally with all customers leaving their vehicles after and spending the crossing in passenger lounges.