The Barfleur's last Poole to Cherbourg sailing ends a 34-year link. Vikki Slade MP raised it with the PM, who offered a meeting with the Europe minister.

The Barfleur has made its final sailing between Poole and Cherbourg, ending a ferry link that has joined the two twin towns for 34 years, and Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Vikki Slade took the loss to the Prime Minister in the Commons today.

She asked him to make sure the UK’s talks with the European Union take account of what regional ports do for trade, tourism and travel. According to her office, Prime Minister Andy Burnham called it a “really important point…and a real shame with that level of history”, and said the Minister for Europe would arrange a meeting with her to discuss it further.

“A very sad day”

Ms Slade put the end of the route down to rules that have made the crossing harder to sell to passengers and hauliers since Brexit.

“Today was a very sad day for my residents in Mid Dorset and North Poole with the last sailing of the Barfleur which has linked Poole to its twin town of Cherbourg for 34 years,” she said.

“Brexit red tape and food export restrictions and travel limits for our residents with the 90 in 180 rule have seen falling passenger numbers and freight plummet making it unviable.”

The 90 in 180 rule she refers to limits UK citizens to 90 days in any 180-day period when they travel in Europe. Her office says the post-Brexit paperwork, the limits on food exports and that travel cap together pushed passenger numbers down and freight down further, until the route no longer paid.

Vikki Slade's question on the Barfleur and the Prime Minister's answer in the House of Commons. Video: supplied by the office of Vikki Slade MP

What she wants from the Government

Her office says the closure is a significant blow to Poole’s maritime economy and to the town’s long cultural and economic ties with Cherbourg, and that local businesses, freight operators and residents have all used the direct connection over more than three decades.

Ms Slade has said she will keep pressing ministers to remove what she calls unnecessary barriers to travel and trade, and to treat Dorset’s ports as drivers of growth for the region. Her aim, in the words of her office, is to keep open the door to a cross-Channel ferry service returning to Poole in future.

No date has been given for the meeting with the Minister for Europe. The full exchange is on Vikki Slade’s website.

What it means for you

  • There is no longer a ferry from Poole to Cherbourg. Anyone planning a crossing to France from Poole will need to book from another port.
  • Hauliers and businesses that used the route for freight will need another crossing.
  • The return of a service is not promised. What the MP has secured is a meeting with the Minister for Europe, not a commitment to a new route. We will report what comes of it.

For other ways in and out of the county, see our Dorset roadworks and travel page.