Cruise passengers whose cars were damaged by last week's storm have returned to Dover and can now see the damage for themselves.

Passengers on the Fred Olsen liner Braemar berthed at the cruise terminal just after 11am, four hours later than expected.

Representatives from insurance companies and staff from the port are at the terminal to help them.

The Mercury understands that 22 of the damaged cars belong to LV= car insurance customers and an engineer has said that 13 vehicles are “total losses” and are not fit to be driven. The other nine are driveable but have been damaged.

A spokeswoman for LV= said they had contacted all their affected customers on the ship and warned them that their cars have been damaged.

“We have been working closely with the port authorities to coordinate a team to be on hand at the docks to look after our customers. When our customers come off the ship, they will be directed to the LV= helpdesk where we will help get them back on the road as quickly as possible.

“For the 13 customers whose cars have been written off, we have arranged hire cars to be ready for them tomorrow so that they can drive home. For the nine whose cars have been damaged but are still driveable, they will be given a help pack to explain the next steps to get their car fixed as quickly as possible.”

The port of Dover was closed for two-and-a-half hours as the worst of the storm swept through the area a week ago.

The Eastern Docks escaped relatively unscathed with most damage restricted to some sheet cladding.

But at the Western Docks, the Admiralty Pier was damaged, particularly the hand-railing, canopies and fencing to the fishermen's walkway and turret areas. The pier has been closed while the damage is surveyed and repair work is carried out.

The cars parked at the cruise terminal were damaged by the severe seas breaking over the pier in the high winds which at times were gusting above 70 miles per hour.

A spokesman for the Port of Dover said they were providing "every assistance" to the cruise customers in dealing with insurance claims, onward travel arrangements or any other requirement to support them following this "very unfortunate turn of events".

Chief executive Tim Waggott said: “The port will continue working tirelessly to ensure that its customers are not disadvantaged by the effects of this natural event. For their benefit and for our community, we are determined to get back to normal as quickly as possible.”