BRITTANY Ferries has suspended plans to fit new engines to several ships but its expensive proposals for Poole’s Barfleur will go ahead.

The cross Channel ferry, which operates between Poole and Cherbourg, will still be out of action for two months next spring to have £10million of work carried out – with part of the gap filled by the fast ferry Normandie Express.

Scrubbers will be fitted to the 22-year-old ferry which will remove sulphur dioxide from the exhaust, a poisonous gas which contributes towards acid rain.

New legislation from the start of 2015 means vessels must use fuels with a sulphur content of not more than 0.10 per cent in the North Sea, including the English Channel, and exhaust cleaning systems are a way of ensuring this.

However the company has announced it has been forced to suspend plans to upgrade much of its fleet to operate on Liquefied Natural Gas and the construction of a new LNG ferry.

It had sought a temporary exemption from the new rules but says with the deadline fast approaching, this does not seem likely.

Jean Marc Roué, Brittany Ferries chairman, said: “It is impossible for us to commit to an ecological transition plan which requires such a high level of investment when, due to the absence of a temporary exemption, we will also incur hefty additional annual costs amounting to tens of millions of euros, due to us being obliged to use diesel instead of heavy fuel oil until our ships have been converted.”

But the company will fit scrubbers to three ships, including the Barfleur, investing 70-80 million euros.

The commitment was welcomed by Poole tourism boss Graham Richardson as “really good news” for the town.

“The investment they are putting into the Barfleur is a clear intention they are thinking long term,” he said.