A former P&O chef who was sacked by the ferry company is appealing for help to pay his legal fees as he prepares to sue the firm.

Following the mass redundancies in March this year by P&O, John Lansdown announced he was seeking financial compensation and exemplary damages of up to £76m for unfair dismissal.

He hopes the move will “deter” the ferry firm or its parent company DP World from treating staff in the same way in the future.

Mr Lansdown, 39, is the only former employee who did not accept the redundancy package from P&O

A fundraiser has since been launched online by the Herne Bay resident for £20,000 to cover his legal fees.

He said: "I am taking P&O Ferries to court for unfair dismissal. Renewed proceedings have been launched.

"I need your help to raise monies to take them on.

"I am having to take on P&O on my own..."

"I am a member of the Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers Union (RMT), but they are unable to satisfactorily support me.

"So I am having to take on P&O Ferries on my own and pay for my own legal fees. My legal team includes a very experienced employment law solicitor and barrister. They are confident that I have a strong case for unfair dismissal.

If P&O Ferries are allowed to get away with what they did to me and my shipmates - fellow British seafarer men and women - it will give the green light to other unscrupulous employers to carry out similar brutal practices.

"This is about justice, principle, right and wrong."

So far, £1,430 has been raised on the page from 53 supporters.

Nearly 800 seafarers, almost 600 based in Dover, were dismissed without warning on March 17.

Later, CEO Peter Hebblethwaite acknowledged at a joint hearing of the Commons’ business and transport committees that his company broke employment law by not consulting trade unions before sacking the workers.

Agency staff being paid lower wages were brought in to replace the workers, with P&O saying the move was the only way to save the struggling business.

Its ships were grounded for weeks, with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency carrying out safety inspections on them.

The three ships which run from Dover have now all passed and are back crossing the Channel.

A spokesman for P&O Ferries previously said in response to Mr Lansdown’s action: “Staff involved in the redundancies remained professional, sympathetic and calm in a challenging situation for everyone, trying to ensure the safety of all the people on board the ships. There was no harassment.

“The decision by P&O Ferries to make seafarers redundant was categorically not based on race or the nationality of the staff involved. We have apologised to the people affected and their families for the impact it’s had on them, and also to the 2,200 people who still work for P&O and will have been asked a lot of difficult questions about this.

“We took this difficult decision as a last resort and after full consideration of all other options but, ultimately, we concluded that the business wouldn’t survive without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements, which in turn would inevitably result in redundancies.

“We have offered enhanced severance terms to those affected to properly and promptly compensate for the lack of warning and consultation – all staff offered these terms except Mr Lansdown have accepted this offer.

“The business was losing £100 million a year, and no shareholder would be able to continually finance that year on year. P&O Ferries needed fundamental change to make it viable – we knew this decision was the only way to save the business.”