POLICE took three people off a ship who had illegally boarded a service heading from France to Poole on Tuesday morning.

Staff on the Barfleur service operated by Brittany Ferries from Cherbourg to Dorset noticed three people, who French news site, Ouest France have reported were illegal immigrants, on an open deck at the front of the ship. Barfleur set sail at 10.15pm on Monday night, ready to arrive in Poole for 7am the following day.

The captain of the ship, which can carry up to 900 passengers and 590 cars, then took the decision to head back towards France once the unauthorised passengers were discovered, to be handed over to the police.

A spokesperson for Brittany Ferries, which operates a daily daytime crossing from Poole to Cherbourg, before cruising back in the evening, confirmed that there was no risk to passengers onboard, who they said would have been asleep at the time.

They added: "This section of the ship is isolated from the rest of the ship and the stowaways were therefore not able to gain access to cargo or passenger spaces.

"The captain took the decision to turn around and head back into French inshore waters. He alerted the French authorities to the presence of the stowaways, and at 0215GMT, once Barfleur had reached Cherbourg Harbour, a French maritime police team boarded by harbour launch."

The spokesperson went on to say that the people then left the ship for further questioning by the French police and border authorities.

Barfleur was then able to set sail at 3am to continue the journey to Poole to allow the passengers to arrive safely at their destination.

Brittany Ferries launched the Barfleur service in 1992, two years after the firm decided to increase capacity on their Poole to Cherbourg route.

It was built in Finland and during construction, the ship was lengthened from its original design by nine metres to allow more vehicles to board the ship.

The ship was specially commissioned for Brittany Ferries' Truckline subsidiary for freight transport, but from 1999 it was used to operate a traditional passenger ferry service.