Dover-Calais ferries suspended due to French strike

Ferries between Dover and Calais will be disrupted by a national strike in France on Thursday.

P&O Ferries said services to and from the French port will be suspended from 07:00 GMT for nine hours.

Dover will still be open with Dunkerque services running as normal but travellers are being urged to allow extra time for journeys.

A day of strike action across France is being staged to protest about plans to raise the official pension age.

P&O said it could not anticipate the extent of disruption to services, adding that “it is possible that our wider operations could be affected during the day”.

When ferries resume after strike action ends at 16:00 GMT, there will be a shuttle service between Dover and Calais until all traffic is cleared.

The strike will also affect Eurostar rail services – a reduced number of trains will run on 19 January due to staff shortages.

There will be cancellations between London and Paris and on services connecting London to Lille, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

There will also be a reduced service on Friday.