All vehicles travelling with P&O Ferries from Calais are having to be 'checked in manually' because its IT systems are down.

There have been long delays overnight as many families try to return home from holidays abroad.

Crossings from Dover have also been held up, but the company is promising to 'accommodate' passengers on the 'first available departure.'

Posting on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, some customers complained about the disruption.

One person wrote, “Arrived in Calais at 5:30pm & still not boarded the 11pm boat. Our children have had to pee in bottles in the car as no access to loos once we got through the check in queue (2hr10mins) then waited over an hour to get through boarder control.”

P&O apologised for the experience and asked them to send an email.

Another passenger described the delays as “horrific”.

According to the latest information sailings this morning are expected to depart on time.