French ferry company SeaFrance could yet be taken over - after a fresh bid was revealed.

Brittany Ferries, which operates five routes to France from Portsmouth, Poole, and Plymouth, confirmed the proposal after the board of directors agreed the bid late last week.

The announcement has been much anticipated after it was prematurely made by the French Government two weeks ago.

If successful this would result in four or five of Seafrance's ferries continuing in service on the busy Dover-Calais route.

But it is unknown if hundreds of jobs will be saved after SeaFrance announced it would make significent redundancies.

SeaFrance - which is owned by French national rail operator SNCF - was unable to comment on the possible buy-out because the offer was made direct to the parent company.

However Brittany Ferries managing director David Longden, was optimistic.

He said:"After 37 years of experience on the longer routes to France and Spain, this is an exciting opportunity to introduce Brittany Ferries' award-winning standards on Dover-Calais crossings, and to provide an even greater choice for our passengers and freight customers."

The move comes just days after a rival bid from operator LD Lines was rejected.

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